FromMiddle Englishknyghthode,knyȝthod, fromOld Englishcnihthād, fromProto-West Germanic*knehtahaidu, equivalent toknight +-hood. Cognate withDutchknechtheid, dialectalGermanKnechtheit.
knighthood (countable anduncountable,pluralknighthoods)
- Anhonour whereby one is made into aknight, and one can thereafter be calledSir.
- theknighthood of Sir [So-and-So]
He's got anOBE andMBE, and his recent work should entitle him to aknighthood. They rushed to congratulate Sir John Smith on hisknighthood.
1953 August, “Sir Sam Fay”, inRailway Magazine, page506:He received hisknighthood at the opening of Immingham Dock in 1912.
- The quality of being a knight.
- The knights collectively, the body of knights.
an honour whereby one is made into a knight
quality of being a knight
