knighthood
noun
Forms knighthoods
- noun An honour whereby one is made into a knight, and whereafter one is entitled to be called Sir. “the knighthood of Sir [So-and-So]”
- noun The quality of being a knight.
- noun The knights collectively, the body of knights.
Etymology
From Middle English knyghthode, knyȝthod, from Old English cnihthād, from Proto-West Germanic *knehtahaidu, equivalent to knight + -hood. Cognate with Dutch knechtheid, dialectal German Knechtheit.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The character, dignity, or condition of a knight, or of knights as a class; hence, chivalry. "O shame to knighthood." Shak.
- noun The whole body of knights.
Etymology [Knight + hood: cf. AS. chihthad youth.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “knighthood”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details