Eric knight

[nahyt] /naɪt/

noun
1.
Eric, 1897–1943, U.S. novelist, born in England.
2.
Frank Hyneman
[hahy-nuh-muh n] /ˈhaɪ nə mən/ (Show IPA), 1885–1972, U.S. economist.
/naɪt/
noun
1.
(in medieval Europe)

2.
(in modern times) a person invested by a sovereign with a nonhereditary rank and dignity usually in recognition of personal services, achievements, etc. A British knight bears the title Sir placed before his name, as in Sir Winston Churchill
3.
a chess piece, usually shaped like a horse’s head, that moves either two squares horizontally and one square vertically or one square horizontally and two squares vertically
4.
a heroic champion of a lady or of a cause or principle
5.
a member of the Roman class of the equites
verb
6.
(transitive) to make (a person) a knight; dub
/naɪt/
noun
1.
Dame Laura. 1887–1970, British painter, noted for her paintings of Gypsies, the ballet, and the circus
n.

Old English cniht “boy, youth; servant, attendant,” common West Germanic (cf. Old Frisian kniucht, Dutch knecht, Middle High German kneht “boy, youth, lad,” German Knecht “servant, bondman, vassal”), of unknown origin. The plural in Middle English sometimes was knighten. Meaning “military follower of a king or other superior” is from c.1100. Began to be used in a specific military sense in Hundred Years War, and gradually rose in importance until it became a rank in the nobility 16c. The chess piece so called from mid-15c. Knight in shining armor in figurative sense is from 1917, from the man who rescues the damsel in distress in romantic dramas (perhaps especially “Lohengrin”). Knights of Columbus, society of Catholic men, founded 1882 in New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.; Knights of Labor, trade union association, founded in Philadelphia, 1869; Knights of Pythias, secret order, founded in Washington, 1864.
v.

“to make a knight of (someone),” early 13c., from knight (n.). Related: Knighted; knighting.

A mounted warrior in Europe in the Middle Ages. (See chivalry.)

Note: Over the centuries, knighthood gradually lost its military functions, but it has survived as a social distinction in Europe, especially in England.