knight-errant
noun
a wandering knight; a knight who traveled widely in search of adventures, to exhibit military skill, to engage in chivalric deeds, etc.
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knight errant
knight errantnoun(esp in medieval romance) a knight who wanders in search of deeds of courage, chivalry, etc
knight-errant
American
[nahyt-er-uhnt]
/ ˈnaɪtˈɛr ənt /
noun
-
knights-errant
plural
knight errant
British
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of knight-errant
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The 16th-century novelist Miguel de Cervantes framed his fictional story of the knight-errant Don Quixote as the translation of a recovered Arabic manuscript.
From New York Times ● Aug. 30, 2022
Nonetheless, he is regarded by some in the astronomy community as a knight-errant, tilting at windmills.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 29, 2021
One man came as a patriotic duck; another as a bald eagle; another as a cross between a knight-errant and Captain America; another as Abraham Lincoln.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 7, 2021
In Cervantes’s classic novel, a student tells the knight-errant Don Quixote, “The greater the fame of the writer, the more closely his books are scrutinized.”
From Washington Post ● Sep. 3, 2019
He was a knight-errant, a Norman gentleman, ever ready to succor the oppressed, but satisfied when he had unhorsed the oppressor, though the victim lay helpless on the ground.
From Recollections and Impressions 1822-1890 by Octavius Brooks Frothingham
By the 1980s, it had become their Holy Grail, and Bob Enea — nephew of Tony Berry, who piloted the boat through the Sea of Cortez — was their knight errant.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2023
In Bruno he has given us a knight errant, a casually chivalrous wanderer in search of his place on earth.
From New York Times ● Oct. 11, 2016
Don Quixote’s whole obsession with medieval romance, with being a sort knight errant in a world where it’s just not possible to be that, is touching because it’s his way of being good.
From Slate ● Mar. 16, 2016
Bloomberg remains, in effect, a billionaire knight errant.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 13, 2015
He wants to brag about this encounter, like a knight errant bragging about his coolness as he unscrews the spike from the monster’s heart and breathes life back into the fiery nostrils.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
Child usually compares Reacher to the knights-errant who wandered Europe in the Middle Ages, or the samurais of ancient Japan.
From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2022
"Your Highness" - The knights-errant - strong emphasize on the errant - behind this adventure comedy spend more time wallowing in medieval filth than weaving clever laughs and engaging action.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 7, 2011
The knights-errant - strong emphasis on the errant - behind the adventure comedy "Your Highness" spend more time wallowing in medieval filth than weaving clever laughs and engaging action.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 6, 2011
The heroes of antiquity, the knights-errant and the pathfinders of empire, symbolized virtues that quickened young hearts.
From Time Magazine Archive
Hear me, sweetheart," answered Don Quixote; "all knights cannot be courtiers, nor can all courtiers be knights-errant.
From The History of Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
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