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Minstrel
Minstrel, Ménestrel, term dating from the 12th century, derived from the Latin minister (servant, official), and originally used to distinguish those performers who were in the regular employment of a particular lord from their itinerant fellows the jongleurs, but later descriptive of both. The origin of these professional entertainers, who flourished from the 11th to the 15th centuries, must be sought in the fusion of the Teutonic scôp, or bard, with the floating débris of the Roman theatre, particularly the mimus (see MIME). The process went on obscurely from the 6th to the 11th centuries, helped by the goliards, wandering scholars who brought to the mixture a measure of classical erudition. Dressed in bright clothes, with flat-heeled shoes, clean-shaven face, and short hair—legacies of Rome—and with their instruments on their backs, they tramped, alone or in company, all over Europe, often harassed by the hostility of the Church and the restrictions of petty officialdom. In spite of this, they enlivened the festivities of religious fraternities, and performed wherever they could gather an audience—in noblemen's halls, in market-places, along pilgrim routes—and kept alive many traditions handed down from Greece and Rome. They may even have had a share in the development of liturgical drama.
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PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Minstrel." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Minstrel." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-MinstrelMnestrel.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Minstrel." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-MinstrelMnestrel.html |
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minstrel
minstrel professional secular musician of the Middle Ages. The modern application of the term is general and includes the jongleurs . Certain very able jongleurs ceased their wanderings and were attached to a court to play or sing the songs of the troubadours or trouvères who employed them. To these and to some itinerant musicians was applied in the 14th cent. the term ménétrier and later ménestrel, from which the word minstrel is derived, to indicate a higher social class than jongleur. Increasing in number and influence, these minstrels were organized and given protection of the law. Their function was at times similar to that of the Welsh bard .
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"minstrel." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "minstrel." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-minstrel.html "minstrel." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-minstrel.html |
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minstrel
minstrel XIII. ME. men(e)stral, min(i)stral, -el, — OF. menestral, -(e)rel, mini-, entertainer, handicraftsman, servant — Pr. menest(ai)ral officer, employed person, musician — late L. ministeriālis official, officer, f. ministerium MINISTRY; see -AL1.
So ministrelsy art of a minstrel; body of minstrels XIV; minstrel poetry XIX (Scott). — OF. menestralsie. |
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T. F. HOAD. "minstrel." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "minstrel." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-minstrel.html T. F. HOAD. "minstrel." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-minstrel.html |
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minstrel
min·strel / ˈminstrəl/ • n. a medieval singer or musician, esp. one who sang or recited lyric or heroic poetry to a musical accompaniment for the nobility. ∎ a member of a band of entertainers with blackened faces who perform songs and music ostensibly of black American origin. |
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"minstrel." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "minstrel." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-minstrel.html "minstrel." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-minstrel.html |
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minstrel
minstrel a medieval singer or musician, especially one who sang or recited lyric or heroic poetry to a musical accompaniment for the nobility. Recorded from Middle English, the word comes from Old French menestral ‘entertainer, servant’, via Provençal for late Latin ministerialis ‘servant’.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "minstrel." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "minstrel." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-minstrel.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "minstrel." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-minstrel.html |
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minstrel
minstrel Itinerant musician and professional entertainer; more specifically, a secular musician, usually an instrumentalist. Minstrels were popular from the 12th to 17th centuries.
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"minstrel." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "minstrel." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-minstrel.html "minstrel." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-minstrel.html |
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minstrel
minstrel •apparel, barrel, carol, Carole, carrel, Carroll, Darrell, Darryl, Farrell
•gambrel • spandrel
•astral, plastral
•cracker-barrel
•Errol, feral
•petrel, petrol
•spectral
•central, epicentral, ventral
•ancestral, kestrel, orchestral
•dextral • Sacheverell • mayoral
•sacral • wastrel • cerebral
•anhedral, cathedral, dihedral, tetrahedral
•hypaethral (US hypethral), urethral
•squirrel, Tyrol, Wirral
•timbrel, whimbrel
•minstrel • arbitral • sinistral • integral
•triumviral
•spiral, viral
•amoral, Balmoral, coral, immoral, laurel, moral, quarrel, sorel, sorrel
•cockerel, Cockerell
•dotterel • rostral
•aboral, aural, choral, floral, goral, oral
•austral, claustral
•scoundrel • cloistral • neutral • figural
•augural
•demurral, Durrell
•mongrel • sepulchral • lustral
•spheral • retiral
•crural, jural, mural, neural, plural, rural
•illiberal, liberal
•natural • federal • peripheral
•doggerel • mackerel • pickerel
•bicameral, unicameral
•admiral
•ephemeral, femoral
•humeral, numeral
•general • mineral • funeral
•spatio-temporal, temporal
•corporal • tesseral • visceral
•bilateral, collateral, equilateral, lateral, multilateral, quadrilateral, trilateral, unilateral
•pastoral
•electoral, pectoral, prefectoral, protectoral
•clitoral, literal, littoral, presbyteral
•dipteral, peripteral
•doctoral • several • behavioural
•conferral, deferral, referral, transferral
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"minstrel." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "minstrel." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-minstrel.html "minstrel." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-minstrel.html |
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