knight and night are homophones: they are pronounced identically and spelled differently, which is why they are so often swapped. knight means “originally a person of noble birth trained to arms and chivalry; today in Great Britain a person honored by the sovereign for personal merit”. night means “the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside”. night is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈnaɪt/
1.n.originally a person of noble birth trained to arms and chivalry; today in Great Britain a person honored by the sovereign for personal merit
2.n.a chessman shaped to resemble the head of a horse; can move two squares horizontally and one vertically (or vice versa)
3.v.raise (someone) to knighthood
“The Beatles were knighted”
/ˈnaɪt/
| knight | night | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈnaɪt/ | /ˈnaɪt/ |
| Said | nahyt | nahyt |
| Syllables | 1 | 1 |
| Letters | 6 | 5 |
| Parts of speech | noun, verb | noun |
| Senses | 3 | 8 |
| How common | Common | Core |
| Synonyms | none recorded | nighttime, dark |
Full entry for knight · Full entry for night · More comparisons
1.n.the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
2.n.a period of ignorance or backwardness or gloom
3.n.the period spent sleeping
“I had a restless night”