cniht

Middle English

cniht

cniht m

boy
- late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans
  On þām ġewinne, ⁊ on moneġum oþrum æfter þǣm, Hannibal ġecȳþde þone nīþ ⁊ þone hete þe hē beforan his fæder ġeswōr, þā hē nigonwintre cniht wæs, þæt hē næfre ne wurde Rōmana frēond.
  In that battle, and in many others after that, Hannibal proved the hatred and hostility that he swore before his father when he was a nine-year-old boy, that he would never become a friend of the Romans.
(male) servant, attendant
male of high military rank, ranking below a baron, usually previously having worked as a page or squire

Declension of cniht (strong a-stem)