Knight

(nit.) [From A.S. cniht.] (Her.) A title of honor originally conferred upon every young man of rank after he was admitted to the privilege of bearing arms. Those who were knighted on a field of battle bore the distinctively honorable appellation of knights bannerets. In more modern times, the title has become a merely civil and empty distinction; one that in England " is more honored in the breach than the observance," being now-adays chiefly conferred upon persons who have distinguished ווות themselves in some social, literary, or artistic sense. The ANIME honor is conferred by the sovereign (or her deputy) touching the recipient with a sword upon the shoulder as he kneels, bidding him rise " Sir John," or whatever his Christian name might be. Thereafter the prefix Sir attaches to his name; while his wife, by cour tesy, a umes Fig. 426.- KNIGHT-BANNERET (1420). that of Lady. In this sense, the honors of a K. must not be confounded with those borne by a baronet (q.v.), the latter rank being hereditary, and one held in high estimation. Neither must the cla ofK. proper be confounded with the knights who derive their knighthood from their being members of an heraldic order, such as that of the Garter, of the Golden Fleece, .; nor of a semi-religious order, as the Knights-Hospitallers, . There are also the nominal titles of K. borne by members of certain organized societies, such as the Freemasons, the Knights ofPythias, . See CHIVALRY. [s. 518]