minstrel Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a singer of folk songs
    jongleur; troubadour; folk singer; poet-singer.
  2. noun a performer in a minstrel show
  3. verb celebrate by singing, in the style of minstrels

WordNet

Min"strel noun
Etymology
OE. minstrel, menestral, OF. menestrel, fr. LL. ministerialis servant, workman (cf. ministrellus harpist), fr. L. ministerium service. See Ministry, and cf. Ministerial.
Definitions
  1. In the Middle Ages, one of an order of men who subsisted by the arts of poetry and music, and sang verses to the accompaniment of a harp or other instrument; in modern times, a poet; a bard; a singer and harper; a musician. Chaucer.

Webster 1913