Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Knave

Knave (nāv), n. [OE., boy, servant, knave, AS. cnafa boy, youth; cf. AS. cnapa boy, youth, D. knaap, G. knabe boy, knappe esquire, Icel. knapi, Sw. knape esquire, knäfvel knave.] 1. A boy; especially, a boy servant. [Obs.] Wyclif. Chaucer.

O murderous slumber, Lay'st thou thy leaden mace upon my boy That plays thee music ? Gentle knave, good night. Shak.

2. Any male servant; a menial. [Obs.] Chaucer.

He's but Fortune's knave, A minister of her will. Shak.

3. A tricky, deceitful fellow; a dishonest person; a rogue; a villain. "A pair of crafty knaves." Shak.

In defiance of demonstration, knaves will continue to proselyte fools. Ames.

☞ "How many serving lads must have been unfaithful and dishonest before knave -which meant at first no more than boy — acquired the meaning which it has now !" Trench.

4. A playing card marked with the figure of a servant or soldier; a jack.

Knave child, a male child. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Syn. — Villain; cheat; rascal; rogue; scoundrel; miscreant.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.