cniht

Middle English

Noun

cniht

1. (Early Middle English) Alternative form of knyght

Old English

Alternative forms

• cnaiht — Northumbrian
• cnæht — Mercian, Northumbrian
• cneht — Anglian
• cneoht, cnyht, cnieht

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *kneht.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /knixt/, [kniçt]

Noun

cniht m

1. boy
   • late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans

     On þām ġewinne, ⁊ on moneġum oþrum æfter þǣm, Hannibal ġecȳþde þone nīþ ⁊ þone hete þe hē beforan his fæder ġeswōr, þā hē nigonwintre cniht wæs, þæt hē næfre ne wurde Rōmana frēond.

     In that battle, and in many others after that, Hannibal proved the hatred and hostility that he swore before his father when he was a nine-year-old boy, that he would never become a friend of the Romans.

2. (male) servant, attendant
3. male of high military rank, ranking below a baron, usually previously having worked as a page or squire

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	cniht	cneoht, cnihtas
accusative	cniht	cneoht, cnihtas
genitive	cnihtes	cneoht, cnihta
dative	cnihte	cneoht, cnihtum

Antonyms

• mæġden

Derived terms

• cnihthād
• cnihtlīċ
• cnihtwesende
• incniht
• leornungcniht

Descendants

• Middle English: knyght
  • English: knight
  • Scots: knicht
  • Yola: nickht