KNAVE
What does "KNAVE" mean?
A dishonest or unprincipled man; a rogue (now archaic).
Meanings
- A deceitful, tricky, or unprincipled man. The play's villain is a smiling knave who betrays every friend. archaic
- The jack in a deck of playing cards. He laid down the knave of hearts to win the trick. archaic
- Historically, a boy or male servant. The young knave carried the knight's shield to the field. archaic
Did you know?
- A knave was once simply a boy: in Old English 'cnafa' meant a youth or male servant, and only over centuries did class scorn drag the word down to mean a rogue.
Word origin
From Old English 'cnafa' (a boy, youth, male servant), related to German 'Knabe' (boy); the sense slid from 'servant boy' to 'low-born man' to 'rogue' over the centuries.
Remember it
KNAVE shares its silent K and 'nave' sound with church architecture - but this knave is no saint; he's the jack who cheats.
A little poem
A boy who fetched and bowed and held the reins
was handed, by the years and by his betters,
a name that means the cunning, not the chains.
tercet
Wordplay
- The knave of hearts is the worst card to date - charming on the table, but he'll steal the tarts the moment you look away.
What it teaches
Words can be demoted by the powerful the same way people are: first you serve, then you are blamed.
Quick facts
What does KNAVE mean?
A dishonest or unprincipled man; a rogue (now archaic).
Is KNAVE a valid word?
Yes — KNAVE is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is KNAVE?
KNAVE has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does KNAVE come from?
From Old English 'cnafa' (a boy, youth, male servant), related to German 'Knabe' (boy); the sense slid from 'servant boy' to 'low-born man' to 'rogue' over the centuries.
What can KNAVE teach us?
Words can be demoted by the powerful the same way people are: first you serve, then you are blamed.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.