troubadour

[ troo-buh-dawr, -dohr, -door ]

/ ˈtru bəˌdɔr, -ˌdoʊr, -ˌdʊər /

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noun

one of a class of medieval lyric poets who flourished principally in southern France from the 11th to 13th centuries, and wrote songs and poems of a complex metrical form in langue d'oc, chiefly on themes of courtly love.Compare trouvère.

any wandering singer or minstrel.

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Origin of troubadour

1720–30; <French <Provençal trobador, equivalent to trob(ar) to find, compose (see trover) + -ador<Latin -ātor-ator

Words nearby troubadour

Trotsky, Leon, trotter, trotting race, trotty, trotyl, troubadour, troubadours, Troubetzkoy, trouble, troubled waters, troublemaker

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use troubadour in a sentence

Champagne is uncorked, cigars are lit and the troubadours spill out of the house.
Revisiting ‘The Visitors’: An oral history of Ragnar Kjartansson’s multimedia masterpiece|Sebastian Smee, Gabriel Florit, Joanne Lee|July 23, 2021|Washington Post
More lighthearted than Game of Thrones—there’s a singing troubadour as comic sidekick in many scenes—The Witcher got mixed reviews, but each episode gets stronger as the season progresses, and ultimately satisfies the fantasy itch.
These Are the Best Fantasy TV Show Adaptations to Watch Now|Raisa Bruner|April 27, 2021|Time
This new musical reaffirms their status as troubadours of the pandemic, a distinction underlined last fall, when their “Keep Going Song” went viral on YouTube.
Give this folk rock duo 27 minutes. They’ll give you a musically heartbreaking world.|Peter Marks|March 18, 2021|Washington Post
He is also the author of Mellencamp: American Troubadour (forthcoming, University Press of Kentucky).
How We Got to Ferguson—a Reading List|David Masciotra|August 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Llewyn Davis is a troubadour and vagabond, one who happens to be in grief.
‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ Star Oscar Isaac Is About to Be a Very Big Deal|Kevin Fallon|December 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The band is now touring Britain, after playing at the Troubadour in London and releasing their second CD.
‘Downton Abbey’ Star Elizabeth McGovern on Season 3, ‘Cheerful Weather for the Wedding,’ and More|Lorenza Muñoz|December 31, 2012|DAILY BEAST
But he had neither the gentle troubadour's art, as the knights of Provence, nor the deeper lore of the Spaniard.
God Wills It!|William Stearns Davis
This ragged, beard-begrown troubadour, the graceful, elegant Caillette of Francis' court?
Under the Rose|Frederic Stewart Isham
Manrico a very robust type of Troubadour—but oughtn't a Troubadour to carry about a guitar, or a lute, or something?
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 103, October 29, 1892|Various
It is fortunate for you, sir, that the Duchess Joan wears her hair short, like a Northman or a bantling troubadour.
Joan of the Sword Hand|S(amuel) R(utherford) Crockett
But he sees this Troubadour has put his poor old nose out of joint for him.
Punch, Or the London Charivari Volume 107, November 17, 1894|Various

British Dictionary definitions for troubadour

troubadour

/ (ˈtruːbəˌdʊə) /

noun

any of a class of lyric poets who flourished principally in Provence and N Italy from the 11th to the 13th centuries, writing chiefly on courtly love in complex metric form

a singer

Word Origin for troubadour

C18: from French, from Old Provençal trobador, from trobar to write verses, perhaps ultimately from Latin tropus trope

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

troubadour

Origin of troubadour

Words nearby troubadour

Words related to troubadour

How to use troubadour in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for troubadour

Word Origin for troubadour