A brave warrior from long ago who wore metal clothes and rode a horse.
This word comes from an old word meaning 'boy' or 'servant.'
A knight is like a brave helper from fairy tales who wore shiny armor like a metal suit! They rode horses and used swords to protect people, just like the knights in your favorite princess and dragon stories.
Medieval chivalric order exclusively male; language encodes this exclusion. 'Knight' carries masculine historical weight even as modern usage (damehood for women) tries to broaden it.
Use neutrally for any titled figure; note that 'dame' is the female honorific. When discussing medieval history, acknowledge that knighthood was male-exclusive.
Women were systematically excluded from knighthood; today dames hold equivalent rank. Historical women warriors (Joan of Arc) used other titles—acknowledge their achievements outside male-defined hierarchies.
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