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knighthood - 3 dictionary results

knight⋅hood

  [nahyt-hood]
Use knighthood in a Sentence
–noun
1. the rank or dignity of a knight: to confer knighthood upon him.
2. the profession or vocation of a knight.
3. knightly character or qualities.
4. the body of knights.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME knighthod, OE cnihthād. See knight, -hood
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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knight·hood   (nīt'hŏŏd')   
n.  
  1. The rank, dignity, or vocation of a knight.
  2. Behavior or qualities befitting a knight; chivalry.
  3. Knights considered as a group.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Knighthood

Knight"hood\, n. [Knight + hood: cf. AS. chihth[=a]d youth.]

1. The character, dignity, or condition of a knight, or of knights as a class; hence, chivalry. "O shame to knighthood." --Shak.

If you needs must write, write C[ae]sar's praise; You 'll gain at least a knighthood, or the bays. --Pope.

2. The whole body of knights.

The knighthood nowadays are nothing like the knighthood of old time. --Chapman.

Note: "When the order of knighthood was conferred with full solemnity in the leisure of a court or court or city, imposing preliminary ceremonies were required of the candidate. He prepared himself by prayer and fasting, watched his arms at night in a chapel, and was then admitted with the performance of religious rites. Knighthood was conferred by the accolade, which, from the derivation of the name, would appear to have been originally an embrace; but afterward consisted, as it still does, in a blow of the flat of a sword on the back of the kneeling candidate." --Brande & C.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : knighthood
Spanish: título de Sir,
German: die Ritterwürde,
Japanese: ナイトの身分
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