minstrelsy

M3I1N1S1T1R1E1L1S1Y4

noun

The musical and other art and craft of a minstrel.

OriginMiddle English minstralcie ← Anglo-Norman menestralsie ← Old French menestrel →
UncommonScrabble 15
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Meanings

nounminstrelsy (countable and uncountable, plural minstrelsies)

plural minstrelsies

  1. countableuncountableThe musical and other art and craft of a minstrel.

    Orfeo makes his way into this palace, and so charms the king with his minstrelsy, that he gives him back his wife.

    1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 86
    1 more example

    They, of course, would change, but not again could she; henceforth no music for her in the Bush birds' minstrelsy, no pleasure in rivalry with buttercups for the butterflies' kiss.

    1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 186
  2. countableuncountableA group of minstrels.
  3. countableuncountableAny similar modern group performing song and verse.
  4. countableuncountableA collection of minstrel ballads.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
minstrelingminstrelry

Origin

  1. Latinministerium“service”
  2. Late Latinministerialis“imperial household officer, one having an official duty”
  3. Medieval Latinministralis“servant, jester, singer”
  4. Old Frenchmenestrel“minstrel”
  5. Anglo-Normanmenestralsie
  6. Middle Englishminstralcie
  7. Englishminstrelsy

From Middle English minstralcie, from 13th century Anglo-Norman menestralsie, menestralcie, from Old French menestrel (“minstrel”), itself from Medieval Latin ministralis (“servant, jester, singer”), from Late Latin ministerialis (“imperial household officer, one having an official duty”), from the adjective ministerialis (“ministerial, servants”), from Latin ministerium (“service”).

More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Esperanto menestrelaĵo
  • menestrelaĵoart a minstrel
Cite this entry
APA

minstrelsy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/minstrelsy

MLA

“minstrelsy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/minstrelsy. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “minstrelsy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/minstrelsy.

Source: minstrelsy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.