Knave definition
A man who steals and lies is an example of a knave.
Other Word Forms
Noun
Origin of knave
- Middle English from Old English cnafa boy, male servant
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Middle English knave, from Old English cnafa (“child, boy, youth; servant”), from Proto-Germanic *knabô (“boy, youth”), from Proto-Indo-European *gnebʰ- (“to press, tighten”), from Proto-Indo-European *gen- (“to pinch, squeeze, bend, press together, ball”). Cognate with German Knabe (“lad”) and Dutch knaap (“lad”). Related also to knape.
From Wiktionary