1. [n]  the hero of a romance by Cervantes; chivalrous but impractical
2. [n]  any impractical idealist (after Cervantes' hero)

Don Quixote
Perhaps the greatest--and certainly the most famous--novel ever written in Spanish, Don Quixote is the classic picaresque tale of a knight-errant living in a world which has no use for him. Written as a history, it gives an account of the life of Don Quixote of la Mancha, a deluded 17th-century Spaniard who believes himself to be a medieval knight and attempts to win renown through acts of chivalry that are invariably disastrous or absurd. One of the earliest examples of the novel form, it remains to this day one of the most influential and best-loved works of fiction in any language.

more details ...