min·strel·sy

(mĭn′strəl-sē)

n. pl. min·strel·sies

1. The art or profession of a minstrel.

2. A troupe of minstrels.

3. Ballads and lyrics sung by minstrels.

[Middle English minstralsie, from Anglo-Norman menestralsie, from Old French menestrel, entertainer; see minstrel.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

minstrelsy

(ˈmɪnstrəlsɪ)

n, pl -sies

1. (Historical Terms) the art of a minstrel

2. (Theatre) the poems, music, or songs of a minstrel

3. (Theatre) a troupe of minstrels

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

min•strel•sy

(ˈmɪn strəl si)

n., pl. -sies.

1. the art or practice of a minstrel.

2. minstrels' songs, ballads, etc.

3. a troupe of minstrels.

[1275–1325; Middle English minstralcie (< Anglo-French menestralsie) < Anglo-Latin ministralcia]

minstrelsy

1. the art of minstrels.
2. their occupation.
3. a group of minstrels.
4. a collection of their music and songs.

Minstrelsy

body of minstrels, collectively, 1350; of musicians; musical instruments collectively, a body or collection of minstrel poetry.

Examples: minstrelsy of heaven (angels), 1667; of the Scottish Border, 1802.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	minstrelsy - a troupe of minstrels troupe, company - organization of performers and associated personnel (especially theatrical); "the traveling company all stayed at the same hotel"
	2.	minstrelsy - ballads sung by minstrels ballad, lay - a narrative song with a recurrent refrain
	3.	minstrelsy - the art of a minstrel artistry, prowess, art - a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation; "the art of conversation"; "it's quite an art"

Translations

minstrelsy

[ˈmɪnstrəlsɪ] N (= music) → música f; (= song) → canto m; (= art of epic minstrel) → juglaría f; (= art of lyric minstrel) → gaya ciencia f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The bride hath paced into the hall, Red as a rose is she; Nodding their heads before her goes The merry minstrelsy.

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That evening after they had supped royally upon the very hart that Marian had slain, Allan sang sweet songs of Northern minstrelsy to the fair guest as she sat by Robin's side, the golden arrow gleaming in her dark hair.

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Each was accompanied by its rude music and minstrelsy .

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Then their talk turned to minstrelsy, and the stranger knight drew forth a cittern, upon which he played the minne-lieder of the north, singing the while in a high cracked voice of Hildebrand and Brunhild and Siegfried, and all the strength and beauty of the land of Almain.

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Still the young Italian's eye turned sidelong upward; and it really seemed as if the touch of genuine, though slight and almost playful, emotion communicated a juicier sweetness to the dry, mechanical process of his minstrelsy. These wanderers are readily responsive to any natural kindness--be it no more than a smile, or a word itself not understood, but only a warmth in it--which befalls them on the roadside of life.

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So he at once said, "Aldermen and town councillors of the Phaeacians, we have had enough now, both of the feast, and of the minstrelsy that is its due accompaniment; let us proceed therefore to the athletic sports, so that our guest on his return home may be able to tell his friends how much we surpass all other nations as boxers, wrestlers, jumpers, and runners."

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Immediately a prelude of pipe, cithern, and viol, touched with practised minstrelsy, began to play from a neighboring thicket, in such a mirthful cadence that the boughs of the Maypole quivered to the sound.

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In 1802-1803 he published 'Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border,' a collection of Scottish ballads and songs, which he carefully annotated.

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The men of Pylos and Arene, and Thryum where is the ford of the river Alpheus; strong Aipy, Cyparisseis, and Amphigenea; Pteleum, Helos, and Dorium, where the Muses met Thamyris, and stilled his minstrelsy for ever.

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Recent revelations in Virginia involving the governor and attorney general, both of whom have admitted to using blackface in the 1980s, has brought attention to the long history of blackface minstrelsy in the U.S.

Catholic connection to blackface goes back to the racist act's start

He has also contributed his works in journals, magazines and blogs such as Of Minstrelsy and Mask, Matatu, Germany; Awka Journal of English Language and Literature; Lunaris Review, AFREADA, and Kalahari Review.

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Some retellings borrow the stories of ethnic or cultural minorities and gut them to house a new message that, no matter how well intentioned, wafts of minstrelsy. When the familiar themes of Yolen's catalogue -- feminism, Appalachia, European Judaism, and the Holocaust -- reappear, her insider's perspective brings depth to the originals, both in what's kept and in what's abandoned.

How to Fracture a Fairy Tale