minstrel

American  

[min-struhl] / ˈmɪn strəl /

noun

• minstrels
  plural

1. a medieval poet and musician who sang or recited while accompanying himself on a stringed instrument, either as a member of a noble household or as an itinerant troubadour.

2. a musician, singer, or poet.

3. one of a troupe of comedians, usually white men in blackface, presenting songs, jokes, etc., and portraying negative racial stereotypes.

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minstrel British  

/ ˈmɪnstrəl /

noun

1. a medieval wandering musician who performed songs or recited poetry with instrumental accompaniment

2. a performer in a minstrel show

3. archaic any poet, musician, or singer

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• minstrels
  plural

Etymology

Origin of minstrel

1175–1225; Middle English ministrel < Old French < Late Latin ministeriālis servant (noun use of adj.); see ministerial

Explanation

If you were a lord in medieval times — back before radio or TV — you may have employed a minstrel for entertainment. The minstrel would keep your household amused by playing music and singing songs about faraway places. The word minstrel traces back to the Old French word menestral, meaning “entertainer, servant.” In medieval times, nobles would often employ a minstrel to recite poems and sing songs accompanied by music, so the minstrel was both entertainer and servant. A “wandering minstrel” is a singer who wanders from house to house for pay. Minstrel shows were traveling variety shows in 19th century America, considered offensive now because performers often wore "blackface" makeup and performed ugly racial stereotypes.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

minstrel minstrels

There were different metrics—say, the number of sheet-music copies pulled from a publisher’s warehouse or the frequency of reprintings or how often it appeared in minstrel shows.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 2026

The screams wouldn’t have reached the Hollywood Hills, where Bill Whitten wound down after a typical Sunday cooking Southern-style collard greens and cornbread in his eclectic home filled with African and Black American minstrel art.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2025

However, the banjo's creation eventually became a blending between West African and European traditions mostly due to minstrel shows in the 1800s.

From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2024

It was there that he began to imbibe the crazy quilt music of the South, with blues and jazz filtered through snatches of country and the minstrel and medicine shows that traveled through town.

From New York Times ● May 29, 2022

“And she appreciated your playing. Have you ever thought of trying out as a minstrel? They say Imre’s a good place for it.”

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss

NM: It’s such a complicated dance, to try to dismiss them as minstrels while also understanding the quality of their work.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2024

The composer and songwriter Stephen Foster, a white Pittsburgher, wrote the 1853 melody, which blackface minstrels made into a hit.

From Salon ● May 5, 2022

Meanwhile, abolitionist Frederick Douglass made it a point to become the era’s most-photographed man, in direct opposition to a culture drenched in racist images of minstrels and contented slaves.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 2, 2020

About half the book covers engravings on teeth; sailors illustrated creamy spikes with ships, flags, Polynesian dancers, Austro-Hungarian minstrels and dentists.

From New York Times ● Jan. 10, 2013

He lifted his tail off the ground and held it at an angle and marched in time to the music the minstrels were playing on their guitars.

From "The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread" by Kate DiCamillo

Related Words

• troubadour