[ˈmɪnstr(ə)l], (Noun)

Definitions:
- a medieval singer or musician, especially one who sang or recited lyric or heroic poetry to a musical accompaniment for the nobility
(e.g: they listened to the minstrels singing songs of knightly prowess)

- a member of a band of entertainers, typically white actors with blackened faces, who performed in a type of stage entertainment prevalent in the US in the 19th and early 20th centuries, featuring songs, dances, and formulaic comic routines based on stereotyped depictions of African Americans
(e.g: the exaggerated dialect of blackface minstrels)


Phrases:

Origin:
Middle English: from Old French menestral ‘entertainer, servant’, via Provençal from late Latin ministerialis ‘servant’ (see ministerial)