knight-errant

[ nahyt-er-uhnt ]

noun,plural knights-er·rant.
  1. a wandering knight; a knight who traveled widely in search of adventures, to exhibit military skill, to engage in chivalric deeds, etc.

Origin of knight-errant

1
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use knight-errant in a sentence

  • The fame and brilliancy of the prince's court had drawn the knights-errant and pursuivants-of-arms from every part of Europe.

    The White Company | Arthur Conan Doyle
  • It made of love a fine art, and countless knights-errant devoted themselves to the service of the little god.

  • Anon the good man knew him that he was one of the knights-errant that was in the quest of the Sangreal.

  • He expressed a doubt that all knights errant were in love, saying that some of them commended themselves to ladies fictitiously.

    The Story of Don Quixote | Arvid Paulson, Clayton Edwards, and Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
  • But Sancho, stubborn as usual, insisted that there were more friars in heaven than knights errant.

    The Story of Don Quixote | Arvid Paulson, Clayton Edwards, and Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

British Dictionary definitions for knight errant

knight errant

nounplural knights errant
  1. (esp in medieval romance) a knight who wanders in search of deeds of courage, chivalry, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012