chivalry

  1. Noun.  (context, now) Cavalry; horsemen armed for battle.
  2. Noun.  (obsolete) The fact or condition of being a knight; knightly skill, prowess.
  3. Noun.  The ethical code of the knight prevalent in Medieval Europe, having such primary virtues as mercy towards the poor and oppressed, humility, honor, sacrifice, fear of God, faithfulness, courage and utmost graciousness and courtesy to ladies.
  4. Noun.  Courtesy, respect and honorable conduct between opponents in wartime. .
  5. Noun.  Courteous behavior, especially that of men towards women.

This is an unmodified, but possibly outdated, definition from Wiktionary and used here under the Creative Commons license. Wiktionary is a great resource. If you like it too, please donate to Wikimedia.

This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.