Becket Thomas à

Beck·et

 (bĕk′ĭt), Saint Thomas à 1118?-1170.

English Roman Catholic martyr. Chancellor to Henry II after 1154, he was appointed archbishop of Canterbury (1162) and fell into disfavor with the king. He was later embroiled in the controversy surrounding Henry's coronation of his son and was murdered by four knights in Canterbury Cathedral.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.