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Meistersinger

[mahy-ster-sing-er, -zing-]
noun, plural Mei·ster·sing·er, Mei·ster·sing·ers for 1.
  1. Also mastersinger. a member of one of the guilds, chiefly of workingmen, established during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries in the principal cities of Germany, for the cultivation of poetry and music.
  2. (italics) Die [dee] /di/, an opera (1867) by Richard Wagner.

Origin of Meistersinger

1835–45; < German: master singer
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for meistersinger

Historical Examples of meistersinger

  • Two days passed, on the first of which Parsifal was given, and on the second Meistersinger.

    Michael

    E. F. Benson

  • Schumann-Heink, as Magdalene in Meistersinger, was simply grotesque.

    Old Fogy

    James Huneker

  • Then he applied himself to the composition of his Meistersinger.

    Wagner at Home

    Judith Gautier

  • It was from his life Wagner wrote the opera of the "Meistersinger."

  • Take, for example, the finale to the overture to the "Meistersinger."

British Dictionary definitions for meistersinger

Meistersinger

noun plural -singer or -singers
  1. a member of one of the various German guilds of workers or craftsmen organized to compose and perform poetry and music. These flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries

Word Origin for Meistersinger

C19: German: master singer
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for meistersinger
n.

1845, from German Meistersinger, literally "master singer;" see master (adj.) + singer.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper