minstrel

Meaning

Noun

1. (also, attributive, historical) Originally, an entertainer employed to juggle, play music, sing, tell stories, etc.; a buffoon, a fool, a jester; later, a medieval (especially travelling) entertainer who would recite and sing poetry, often to their own musical accompaniment.
2. (also, attributive, broadly, poetic) Any lyric poet, musician, or singer.
3. (US, also, attributive, broadly, historical) One of a troupe of entertainers, often a white person who wore black makeup (blackface), to present a so-called minstrel show, being a variety show of banjo music, dance, and song (now sometimes regarded as racist).
4. (also, attributive, broadly, slang) An amphetamine tablet, typically black, or black and white, in colour.

Verb

1. (also, attributive, figuratively, transitive) To play (a tune on a musical instrument); to sing (a song).
2. (also, attributive, figuratively, intransitive) To act as a minstrel; to entertain by playing a musical instrument, singing, etc.

Synonyms

troubadour

bard

poet

folk singer

jongleur

singer

🧑‍🎤

poet-singer

court musician

melodist

minstrel sweetlips

gray sweetlips

grey sweetlip

bandsman

minstrel sweetlip

composer

lyrist

musician

songster

vocalist

song bird

Translations

ménestrel

trovador

troubadour

jogral

Minnesänger

juglar

menestrel

Troubadour

aşık

Minstrel

trobador

trovador

menestrello

minstreel

şair

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈmɪnstɹ(ə)l/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: minstral

Cognate with French: ménestrel

In summary

The noun is derived from Middle English minstral, menestrel (“actor; juggler; mime; musician; singer; storyteller; (military) soldier playing a horn or trumpet as a signal”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman menestrel [and other forms] and Old French menestrel (“artisan; servant; itinerant musician or poet; worker”) [and other forms] (modern French ménestrel (“minstrel”)), from Late Latin ministerialis (“official or retainer owing household and military service to a feudal lord, a ministerial or ministerialis”), from Latin ministerium (“employment, ministration; office of a minister, ministry; action or attendance by an inferior person such as a slave, service”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives). Ministerium is derived from minister (“accomplice; agent; aide; attendant; servant; waiter”) (probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mey- (“little, small”) + *-teros (contrastive or oppositional suffix forming adjectives)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). Doublet of ministerial and ministerialis.
The verb is derived from the noun.