1. traveling musicians and entertainers in medieval times who performed songs, stories, and poetry
Usage: historical
2. performers in blackface entertainment shows popular in 19th-century America
Usage: historical; offensive

Examples

• Medieval minstrels traveled from castle to castle entertaining nobles with their music.
• The minstrels sang ballads about brave knights and fair maidens.
• Wandering minstrels were welcome guests at royal courts throughout Europe.
• The king’s minstrels performed at the grand feast.
• Minstrel shows were a popular but problematic form of entertainment in the 1800s.
• The traveling minstrels carried news from town to town along with their songs.