chivalry

American  

[shiv-uhl-ree] / ˈʃɪv əl ri /

noun

• chivalries
  plural

1. the sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valor, and dexterity in arms.

2. the rules and customs of medieval knighthood.

3. the medieval system or institution of knighthood.

4. a group of knights.

5. gallant warriors or gentlemen.

   fair ladies and noble chivalry.

6. Archaic. a chivalrous act; gallant deed.

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chivalry British  

/ ˈʃɪvəlrɪ /

noun

1. the combination of qualities expected of an ideal knight, esp courage, honour, justice, and a readiness to help the weak

2. courteous behaviour, esp towards women

3. the medieval system and principles of knighthood

4. knights, noblemen, etc, collectively

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chivalry Cultural  

1. The methods of training and standards of behavior for knights in the Middle Ages. The code of chivalry emphasized bravery, military skill, generosity in victory, piety, and courtesy to women. (Compare courtly love.)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unchivalry
  noun
• chivalric
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• chivalries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of chivalry

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English chivalrie, from Anglo-French, Old French chevalerie, from chevalier chevalier + -ie -y ³

Explanation

Men behaving courteously toward women — holding the door for them, offering them their jackets when it's cold — is called chivalry. Many women consider chivalry a lost art. Nice work, fellas. Cavalry (soldiers on horseback) and chivalry have the same root: the Medieval Latin word caballarius, meaning "horseman" or "knight." In the Middle Ages, a knight was expected to be brave, loyal, and to open the tavern door for his date. Picture a knight kneeling before a maiden and kissing her hand. It's a classic image of chivalry from the storybooks. Some women wonder whether chivalry has ever existed anywhere else.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

chivalry chivalries

He picks me up from Los Angeles International Airport — an act of chivalry that deserves knighthood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026

Six hundred years ago, on a muddy field near Agincourt in northern France, King Henry V’s outnumbered, half-starved English army faced the flower of French chivalry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

The Psychology of Women Quarterly study shows just how much the notion of chivalry is actually a myth.

From Salon ● Apr. 8, 2026

The “age of chivalry is gone,” Edmund Burke lamented after the guillotining of Marie Antoinette of France on Oct.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026

I guess chivalry isn't dead. yours, Jane p.s.

From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan

Man has his courtesies of war, and his chivalries of war; he does not strike the unarmed man; he spares the woman and the child.

From Sanitary and Social Lectures, etc by Charles Kingsley

I know one great Spanish scholar who has never forgiven Cervantes for destroying the books of chivalries.

From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 10 by John Rudd

The choice was not altogether a happy one, for the Duke of Bejar might be said to have an ancestral claim to be regarded as a patron of books of chivalries.

From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 10 by John Rudd

He was an aristocrat born, as we have seen, and felt in himself a kinship for the courtesies, chivalries, and generosities of aristocratic life.

From The Man Shakespeare by Frank Harris

I have seen, too, generous sacrifices and tender considerations, to which the boasted chivalries of Sydney and Edward were childish ostentation.

From Cannibals all! or, Slaves without masters by George Fitzhugh