minstrel

English

WOTD – 12 January 2022

Etymology

A reproduction of a 16th-century woodcut depicting the “minstrels of Beverley” (sense 1) playing, from left to right, the pipe and tabor, the fiddle, a windcap instrument, the lute, and the shawm.

A c. 1890 cabinet card of a minstrel (sense 2.2) in blackface. The practice is now considered racist.

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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪnstɹ(ə)l/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mins‧trel

Noun

minstrel (plural minstrels) (also attributively)

1. (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.

   Synonyms: bard, jongleur, troubadour

   • 1589?, Cutbert Curry-knave [pseudonym; Thomas Nashe], An Almond for a Parrat, or Cutbert Curry-knaues Almes. […], [London: […] Eliot’s Court Press], →OCLC; republished as An Almond for a Parrot; being a Reply to Martin Mar-prelate. […] (Puritan Discipline Tracts), London: John Petheram, […], 1846, →OCLC, page 26:

     I forgette to tel you what a stirre he keepes against dumbe ministers, and neuer writes nor talkes of them, but hee calleth them minstrels, […]

     Used as an insulting pun for minister (“person who is trained to preach, to perform religious ceremonies, and to afford pastoral care at a Protestant church”).

   • 1669, William Gurnall, “A Short Point from the Connexion of This Piece of Armour with the First; Righteousness with Truth”, in The Christian in Compleat Armour. Or, A Treatise, of the Saints VVar against the Devil; […], 5th edition, London: […] Ralph Smith, […], →OCLC, page 77, column 1:

     Should a Minſtrel ſing to a ſweet tune with her voice, and play to another with her hand that is harſh and diſpleaſing; ſuch muſick would more grate the judicious ear, than if ſhe had ſung to what ſhe plaid? Thus to ſing to truth with our judgement, and play wickedneſs with our heart and hand in our life, is more abhorring to God and all good men, than where the judgement is erroneous, as well as the life ungodly.

   • 1765, Thomas Percy, compiler, “An Essay on the Ancient English Minstrels”, in Reliques of Ancient English Poetry: […], volume I, London: […] J[ames] Dodsley […], →OCLC, pages xv–xvi:

     [page xv] The Minstrels ſeem to have been the genuine ſucceſſors of the ancient Bards, who united the arts of Poetry and Muſic, and ſung verſes to the harp, of their own compoſing. […] [page xvi] [T]he Minſtrels continued a diſtinct order of men, and got their livelihood by ſinging verſes to the harp, at the houſes of the great.

   • 1805, Walter Scott, “Canto Fourth”, in The Lay of the Last Minstrel: A Poem, London: […] [James Ballantyne] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], and A[rchibald] Constable and Co., […], →OCLC, stanza XVI, page 107:

     But louder still the clamour grew, / And louder still the minstrels blew, / When, from beneath the greenwood tree, / Rode forth Lord Howard's chivalry; […]

   • 1813, Thomas Moore (lyricist), John Stevenson (composer), “The Minstrel-Boy”, in A Selection of Irish Melodies. […], number 5, London: J. Power, […], →OCLC, verse I, page 30:

     The Minstrel-Boy to the war is gone, / In the ranks of death you'll find him; / His father's sword he has girded on, / And his wild harp slung behind him.

   • 1885, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, […] The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu, London: Chappel & Co., […], →OCLC, Act I, page 4:

     A wandering minstrel I— / A thing of shreds and patches, / Of ballads, songs and snatches, / And dreamy lullaby!

   • 1901, “Pawkie Adam Glen”, in Robert Ford, editor, Vagabond Songs and Ballads of Scotland: With Many Old and Familiar Melodies […] (Second Series), Paisley, Renfrewshire, London: Alexander Gardner […], →OCLC, page 172:

     The hero of the verses, Adam Glen, who composed the air to which they are sung, was a well-known wandering minstrel, long a favourite in every farmer's ha', village, and fair, in the west of Angus, and in eastern Forfarshire.

2. (by extension)
   1. (chiefly poetic) Any lyric poet, musician, or singer.
      • 1881, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, “The House of Life. Sonnet IX. Passion and Worship.”, in Ballads and Sonnets, London: Ellis and White, […], →OCLC, part I (Youth and Change), page 171:

        One flame-winged brought a white-winged harp-player / Even where my lady and I lay all alone; / Saying: "Behold, this minstrel is unknown; / Bid him depart, for I am minstrel here: / Only my strains are to Love's dear ones dear."

   2. (US, 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).
      • 1904, Edith Nesbit, The New Treasure Seekers, Chapter 2:

        After tea it was the entertainment. Songs and conjuring and a play called "Box and Cox," very amusing, and a lot of throwing things about in it—bacon and chops and things—and nigger minstrels. We clapped till our hands were sore.

   3. (by extension, slang) An amphetamine tablet, typically black, or black and white, in colour.
      • 1970, SAMT, page 613:

        These include dexamphetamine ( Dexedrine 'dexies ' or 'oranges'), methylamphetamine (Methedrine—'speed'), dexamphetamine combined with amylobarbitone (Drinamyl—'purple hearts' or 'blues'), amphetamine combined with dexamphetamine (Anorexine 12.5 mg - black and white minstrels' and Anorexine 20 mg—'black bombs'), phemetrazine (Preludin), diethylpropion (Tenuate), and methylphenidate (Ritalin).

      • 2008, Julian Evans, Semi-Invisible Man: The Life of Norman Lewis, page 510:

        Lacking food, Jimmy reverts to his “minstrels'” — speed — and in a paranoia of drugs and near-starvation the pair fall out.

      • 2014, Will Self, Shark:

        Roger had always been ... libidinous, aren't we all? ... but his powerful body began to writhe with the unearthly flexions of the Kundalini spirit, and after swallowing a couple of nigger minstrels Lesley had given him he spent most of one Friday morning house meeting sitting cross-legged, clutching his crotch and chanting, My dick is God, God is my dick ... over and over again, until Zack had though he would stick my fingers in his eyes, my thumb in his third one, and tear his bloody head off! – Skinning up and smoking a little shit – this Zack hadn't minded, and with two or three residents, in the right surroundings and carefully guided, he believed LSD could have therapeutic benefits.

      • 2018, J. L. Walker, Jump and Dance, page 151:

        Harry tipped the contents of Billy's bag on to his desk: boosters, purple hearts, black bombers, French blues, nigger minstrels spilled out, popping across the desk like jumping beans.

Derived terms

• God's minstrel
• minstrelesque
• minstreless (rare)
• minstrel gallery, minstrels' gallery
• minstrelry
• minstrelship (obsolete, rare)
• minstrel show
• minstrel song
• minstrelsy

 

Translations

entertainer employed to juggle, play music, sing, tell stories, etc. — see fool,‎ jester

medieval (especially travelling) entertainer who would recite and sing poetry, often to their own musical accompaniment

• Belarusian: менестрэ́ль m (mjenjestrélʹ)
• Bourguignon: ménétrei
• Bulgarian: менестре́л (bg) m (menestrél)
• Catalan: joglar (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 吟遊詩人ぎんゆうしじん／吟ぎん游ゆう诗人 (zh) (yínyóu shīrén)

• Czech: minstrel m
• Dutch: speelman (nl) m, minstreel (nl) m
• Finnish: minstreli, kiertelevä laulaja
• French: ménestrel (fr) m, ménétrier (fr) m
• Galician: segrel m, xogral m, xograr (gl) m
• Georgian: მენესტრელი (ka) (menesṭreli)
• German: Minnesänger (de) m, Spielmann (de) m, Troubadour (de) m
• Greek: μενεστρέλος (el) m (menestrélos)
• Hungarian: vándorénekes (hu)
• Italian: menestrello (it) m
• Japanese: ミンストレル (minsutoreru), 吟遊詩人ぎんゆうしじん (ja) (ぎんゆうしじん, gin'yū shijin)
• Korean: 민스트럴 (minseuteureol), 음유시인(吟遊詩人ぎんゆうしじん) (ko) (eumyusiin)
• Old English: sċop m
• Polish: minstrel (pl) m
• Portuguese: menestrel (pt) m, jogral (pt) m
• Romanian: menestrel (ro) m
• Russian: менестре́ль (ru) m (menestrélʹ)
• Spanish: ministril (es) m, juglar (es) m
• Ukrainian: менестре́ль m (menestrélʹ)
• Walloon: mestré (wa) m

any lyric poet, musician, or singer

one of a troupe of entertainers, often a white person who wore black makeup (blackface), to present a so-called minstrel show

amphetamine tablet, typically black, or black and white, in colour

See also

• vaudeville

Verb

minstrel (third-person singular simple present minstrels, present participle minstreling or minstrelling, simple past and past participle minstreled or minstrelled) (also figuratively)

1. (transitive) To play (a tune on a musical instrument); to sing (a song).
   • 1858, J[ohn] F[razer] Corkan, An Hour Ago: Or Time in Dreamland. A Mystery, London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts, →OCLC, page 93:

     Blest be the impulse which did urge me forth, / Minstrelling winds with music, which did melt / Into kind ears like softly opening showers, / To those who asked if beggar wanted bread.

   • 1896, M[atthew] P[hipps] Shiel, “Part II—Shape III: Phorfor”, in Shapes in the Fire: Being a Mid-winter-night’s Entertainment in Two Parts and an Interlude (The Keynotes Series; 29), London: John Lane, […]; Boston, Mass.: Roberts Bros., →OCLC, page 276:

     And instantly from the depts of the black recesses behind the reredos of the altar there slid like slanting light-rays through the air a little creature, a tenuous grey bird, an embodied breeze, a flash of life. It settled, still minstreling its luted sibboleth, to a fluttering rest in the panting bosom of Areta.

   • 1997 spring–summer, Peter Hudson, “Editor’s Note: In the Country of the Snow Blind”, in West Coast Line: A Journal of Contemporary Writing and Criticism, volume 31, number 1, Burnaby, B.C.: Department of English, Simon Fraser University, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 5; quoted in George Elliott Clarke, “Embarkation: Discovering Africa-Canadian Literature”, in Odysseys Home: Mapping African-Canadian Literature, Toronto, Ont., Buffalo, N.Y.: University of Toronto Press, 2002, →ISBN, note 5, page 19:

     [The sense that African Canadians began to appear about the time that Pierre Elliott Trudeau became prime minister of Canada in 1968] has lead [sic] to the perception that black [Canadian] writing, minstreling the pioneer mythologies of survival, simply records the struggle of (West Indian) immigrants against a cold, white, bitterly racist Canada.

2. (intransitive) To act as a minstrel; to entertain by playing a musical instrument, singing, etc.
   • 1830, Anacreon, “Ode V. On the Rose.”, in T. W. C. Edwards, transl., Τたうαあるふぁ τたうοおみくろんυうぷしろん Ανακρεοντος τたうοおみくろんυうぷしろん Τたうηいーたιいおたοおみくろんυうぷしろん Μみゅーεいぷしろんλらむだηいーた = The Odes of Anacreon the Teian Bard, Literally Translated into English Prose; […], London: […] [J. M‘Gowan and Son] for W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, […], →OCLC, page 22:

     Crown me, therefore,—and minstrelling near to thy fanes, Bacchus, thickly-adorned with rosy chaplets will I dance with a full-bosomed maid.

   • 1872 March 26, Peter Barrow, “Correspondence. Lightening Ships over Yenicalee Bar.”, in The Nautical Magazine. A Journal of Papers on Subjects Connected with Maritime Affairs, volume XLI (New Series), London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co. […]; and J. D. Potter, […], published June 1872, →OCLC, page 492:

     [T]here are hotels in Kertch, the keepers of which bring over a band of musicians, singing men and singing women, especially the latter, every year for the amusement of [ship] masters, who, […] lavishly distribute bottles of champagne, and other delicacies, to these minstreling angels—women, and pay away their roubles as if they were coppers.

   • 1921, Al Jennings, “Methods of O. Henry; His Promotion; the Singing of Sally Castleton; O. Henry’s Indifference; the Explanation”, in Through the Shadows with O. Henry, New York, N.Y.: The H. K. Fly Company, →OCLC, page 185:

     [T]he three of us will set forth from this fortress of mighty stone and like troubadours of old we will go a-minstreling from village to village!

   • 2012, Paul Doherty, “The Physician’s Tale”, in The Midnight Man: The Physician’s Tale of Mystery and Murder as He Goes on a Pilgrimage from London to Canterbury, Sutton, Surrey: Crème de la Crime, Severn House Publishers, →ISBN, part 5, page 138:

     Cutwolf was not just acting the troubadour, the jongleur, the travelling minstrel, he was also Beauchamp's spy. […] Once he'd finished minstrelling, he would invite others to make their contribution about life along the alleyways of Dowgate and the surrounding wards. Everyone was eager to participate and, in anticipation during the day, garner as much tittle-tattle and gossip as possible.

   • 2015, Vincent Giroud, “The Rasputin Years”, in Nicolas Nabokov: A Life in Freedom and Music, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN:

     But to come to a sick world like Burma, as a meteoric Kulturträger [culture carrier], minstrelling about the advantages of freedom over slavery, is an imposture, a Schweinerei, [disgrace] with Germanic overtones.

Derived terms

• minstreling, minstrelling (noun)

Translations

to act as a minstrel

Further reading

• minstrel on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• minstrel (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• meltrins

Czech

Alternative forms

• menestrel

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɪnstrɛl]
• Hyphenation: min‧s‧t‧rel

Noun

minstrel m anim

1. minstrel

   Synonym: žakéř

   Angličtí minstrelové o něm začali zpívat středověké balady. ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Declension

Declension of minstrel (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	minstrel	minstrelové
genitive	minstrela	minstrelů
dative	minstrelovi, minstrelu	minstrelům
accusative	minstrela	minstrely
vocative	minstrele	minstrelové
locative	minstrelovi, minstrelu	minstrelech
instrumental	minstrelem	minstrely

Further reading

• “minstrel”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “minstrel”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English minstrel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmin.strɛl/
• Rhymes: -instrɛl
• Syllabification: min‧strel

Noun

minstrel m pers

1. (historical) minstrel (medieval traveling entertainer)

Declension

Declension of minstrel

	singular	plural
nominative	minstrel	minstrele
genitive	minstrela	minstreli/minstrelów
dative	minstrelowi	minstrelom
accusative	minstrela	minstreli/minstrelów
instrumental	minstrelem	minstrelami
locative	minstrelu	minstrelach
vocative	minstrelu	minstrele

Further reading

• minstrel in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• minstrel in Polish dictionaries at PWN