knave

views updated May 17 2018

knave / nāv/ • n. archaic a dishonest or unscrupulous man.DERIVATIVES: knav·er·y / -vərē/ n. (pl. -er·ies) .knav·ish adj.knav·ish·ly adv.knav·ish·ness n.ORIGIN: Old English cnafa ‘boy, servant’; related to German Knabe ‘boy.’

knave

views updated May 29 2018

knave another term for the ‘jack’ in cards. The word originally (in Old English) meant ‘boy, servant’, and then generally someone of low social status; in Middle English, the sense of ‘dishonest or unscrupulous man’ developed. The playing-card sense is recorded from the middle of the 16th century.

knave

views updated May 29 2018

knave †boy; †male servant OE.; base fellow XIII; lowest court card of a suit XVI. OE. cnafa = OHG. knabo (G. knabe boy) :- WGmc. *knaban-, rel. obscurely to synon. OE. cnapa = OS. cnapo, and OHG. knappo (G. knappe page, squire).
Hence knavery XVI, knavish XIV.