knighthood

n. rank of knight; profession of a knight; knights as a class; dignity of knight; knightly qualities; aristocrats that hold the rank of knight

For other uses, see Knight (disambiguation) or Knights (disambiguation). Knight is the English term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. In the Commonwealth of Nations, knighthood is a non-heritable form of gentility, but is not nobility. In the High and Late Middle Ages, the principal duty of a knight was to fight as, and lead, heavy cavalry (see serjeanty); more recently, in the United Kingdom, knighthood has become a symbolic title of honour given to a more diverse class of people, from mountain climber Edmund Hillary to musician Paul McCartney. By extension, "knight" is also used as a translation of the names of other honourable estates connected with horsemanship, especially from classical antiquity.
See more at Wikipedia.org...

Noun
1. aristocrats holding the rank of knight
(hypernym) nobility, aristocracy

(n.)
The whole body of knights.
  

(n.)
The character, dignity, or condition of a knight, or of knights as a class; hence, chivalry.
  

Being a knight . Knighthood was conferred in the adoubement ceremony, or the accolade , at which time a young man or squire was formally adopted into the brotherhood of knights. Even though knights differed in their allegiance to king and kingdom , they often treated one another with a degree of respect uncommon in our age, when soldiers from opposing sides get little opportunity to make nose to nose contact with their opponents. Knighthood was a solemn office, but also an economic one, a defined social station that declined over time in favor of the economic might of the middle classes. The military role of knights metamorphasized into the officer, the values of virtues of knighthood becoming the description of a gentleman .