I. (OE. cnihtlíc.) † 1. Boyish. Obs.
a. 1000. Prose Life Guthlac, ii. (Goodwin), 12. Ne he cnihtlice galnysse næs begangende.
II. (ME. and mod.Eng.)
2. Having the rank or qualities of a knight; noble, chivalrous. Now rare.
1382. Wyclif, 2 Macc. viii. 9. A kniȝtly man, and in thingus of bateil most expert.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 184. Elda the kinges Chamberlein, A knyhtly man after his lawe.
c. 1430. Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, III. lxiii. (1869), 173. He is michel the more corageows after, and the more knightlich.
1813. Byron, Ch. Har., Add. Pref. He was … knightly in his attributes.
3. Of things, actions, etc.: Of, belonging to, suitable, or appropriate to a knight. † Knightly fee = KNIGHT’S FEE.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxxiii. (George), 386. His knychtly clething … he gef away for godis sak.
c. 1480. Henryson, Test. Cres., 519. For knichtly pietie and memoriall Of fair Cresseid.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. i. 1. As one for knightly giusts and fierce encounters fitt.
c. 1630. Risdon, Surv. Devon, § 334 (1811), 346. William Fitz-Morice held Hagington by one knightly fee.
1700. Dryden, Theodore & Honoria, 389. Preferr’d above the rest, By him with knightly deeds.
1834. L. Ritchie, Wand. by Seine, 55. The use of the knightly sword or lance.
4. Consisting or composed of knights. rare.
1845. Sarah Austin, Ranke’s Hist. Ref., I. 127. The knightly order had taken no part in the diet.
1877. Miss Yonge, Cameos, IV. xii. 131. The romances of chivalry which were the delectation of the knightly world in those days.
Hence Knightlihood († -hede), Knightliness, knightly condition or qualities.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 212. Wherof his knyhtlihiede Is yit comended overal.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., IV. vii. 45. Some gentle swaine … Traind vp in feates of armes and knightlinesse.
1890. Æ. Prince, Of Joyous Gard, ii. 47. Sir Tristram yearned to largely breathe again Sharp air inspiriting of knightlihood.
1900. S. Lane-Poole, in Longm. Mag., July, 227. The genius of the immortal Scott has created for us a true type of Saracen knightliness in ‘The Talisman.’
