The noun is derived from Middle English minstral, menestrel (“actor; juggler; mime; musician; singer; storyteller; (military) soldier playing a horn or trumpet as a signal”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman menestrel [and other forms] and Old French menestrel (“artisan; servant; itinerant musician or poet; worker”) [and other forms] (modern French ménestrel (“minstrel”)), from Late Latin ministerialis (“official or retainer owing household and military service to a feudal lord, a ministerial or ministerialis”), from Latin ministerium (“employment, ministration; office of a minister, ministry; action or attendance by an inferior person such as a slave, service”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives). Ministerium is derived from minister (“accomplice; agent; aide; attendant; servant; waiter”) (probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mey-n- (“little, small”) + *-yōs (“-er”, comparative suffix) + *-teros (contrastive or oppositional suffix forming adjectives)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). Doublet of ministerial and ministerialis. The verb is derived from the noun.
1
Also, Historical Originally, an entertainer employed to juggle, play music, sing, tell stories, etc.; a buffoon, a fool, a jester; later, a medieval (especially travelling) entertainer who would recite and sing poetry, often to their own musical accompaniment.
I forgette to tel you what a ſtirre he keepes againſt dumbe ministers, and neuer writes nor talkes of them, but hee calleth them minſtrels, […][1589?], Cutbert Curry-knaue [pseudonym; Thomas Nashe], An Almond for a Parrat, or Cutbert Curry-knaues Almes. […], [London]: […] [Eliot’s Court Press], →OCLC, folio [8], verso:
Should a Minſtrel ſing to a ſweet tune with her voice, and play to another with her hand that is harſh and diſpleaſing; ſuch muſick would more grate the judicious ear, than if ſhe had ſung to what ſhe plaid? Thus to ſing to truth with our judgement, and play wickedneſs with our heart and hand in our life, is more abhorring to God and all good men, than where the judgement is erroneous, as well as the life ungodly.1669, William Gurnall, “A Short Point from the Connexion of This Piece of Armour with the First; Righteousness with Truth”, in The Christian in Compleat Armour. Or, A Treatise, of the Saints VVar against the Devil; […], 5th edition, London: […] Ralph Smith, […], →OCLC, page 77, column 1:
4 more examples
[page xv] The Minstrels ſeem to have been the genuine ſucceſſors of the ancient Bards, who united the arts of Poetry and Muſic, and ſung verſes to the harp, of their own compoſing. […] [page xvi] [T]he Minſtrels continued a diſtinct order of men, and got their livelihood by ſinging verſes to the harp, at the houſes of the great.1765, Thomas Percy, compiler, “An Essay on the Ancient English Minstrels”, in Reliques of Ancient English Poetry: […], volume I, London: […] J[ames] Dodsley […], →OCLC, pages xv–xvi:
But louder still the clamour grew, / And louder still the minstrels blew, / When, from beneath the greenwood tree, / Rode forth Lord Howard's chivalry; […]1805, Walter Scott, “Canto Fourth”, in The Lay of the Last Minstrel: A Poem, London: […] [James Ballantyne] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], and A[rchibald] Constable and Co., […], →OCLC, stanza XVI, page 107:
The Minstrel-Boy to the war is gone, / In the ranks of death you'll find him; / His father's sword he has girded on, / And his wild harp slung behind him.1813, Thomas Moore (lyricist), John Stevenson (composer), “The Minstrel-Boy”, in A Selection of Irish Melodies. […], number 5, London: J. Power, […], →OCLC, verse I, page 30:
A wandering minstrel I— / A thing of shreds and patches, / Of ballads, songs and snatches, / And dreamy lullaby!1885, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert; Arthur Sullivan, composer, […] The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu, London: Chappel & Co., […], →OCLC, Act I, page 4:
2
Also, Broadly, Poetic Any lyric poet, musician, or singer.
One flame-winged brought a white-winged harp-player / Even where my lady and I lay all alone; / Saying: "Behold, this minstrel is unknown; / Bid him depart, for I am minstrel here: / Only my strains are to Love's dear ones dear."1881, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, “The House of Life. Sonnet IX. Passion and Worship.”, in Ballads and Sonnets, London: Ellis and White, […], →OCLC, part I (Youth and Change), page 171:
3
US, Also, Broadly, Historical One of a troupe of entertainers, often a white person who wore black makeup (blackface), to present a so-called minstrel show, being a variety show of banjo music, dance, and song (now regarded as racist).
After tea it was the entertainment. Songs and conjuring and a play called "Box and Cox," very amusing, and a lot of throwing things about in it—bacon and chops and things—and nigger minstrels. We clapped till our hands were sore.1904, E[dith] Nesbit, “(please specify the page)”, in New Treasure Seekers, London: Ernest Benn, →OCLC:
4
Also, Broadly, Slang An amphetamine tablet, typically black, or black and white, in colour.
These include dexamphetamine ( Dexedrine 'dexies ' or 'oranges'), methylamphetamine (Methedrine—'speed'), dexamphetamine combined with amylobarbitone (Drinamyl—'purple hearts' or 'blues'), amphetamine combined with dexamphetamine (Anorexine 12.5 mg - black and white minstrels' and Anorexine 20 mg—'black bombs'), phemetrazine (Preludin), diethylpropion (Tenuate), and methylphenidate (Ritalin).1970, SAMT, page 613:
Lacking food, Jimmy reverts to his “minstrels'” — speed — and in a paranoia of drugs and near-starvation the pair fall out.2008, Julian Evans, Semi-Invisible Man: The Life of Norman Lewis, page 510:
2 more examples
Roger had always been ... libidinous, aren't we all? ... but his powerful body began to writhe with the unearthly flexions of the Kundalini spirit, and after swallowing a couple of nigger minstrels Lesley had given him he spent most of one Friday morning house meeting sitting cross-legged, clutching his crotch and chanting, My dick is God, God is my dick ... over and over again, until Zack had though he would stick my fingers in his eyes, my thumb in his third one, and tear his bloody head off! – Skinning up and smoking a little shit – this Zack hadn't minded, and with two or three residents, in the right surroundings and carefully guided, he believed LSD could have therapeutic benefits.2014, Will Self, Shark:
Harry tipped the contents of Billy's bag on to his desk: boosters, purple hearts, black bombers, French blues, nigger minstrels spilled out, popping across the desk like jumping beans.2018, J. L. Walker, Jump and Dance, page 151:
The noun is derived from Middle English minstral, menestrel (“actor; juggler; mime; musician; singer; storyteller; (military) soldier playing a horn or trumpet as a signal”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman menestrel [and other forms] and Old French menestrel (“artisan; servant; itinerant musician or poet; worker”) [and other forms] (modern French ménestrel (“minstrel”)), from Late Latin ministerialis (“official or retainer owing household and military service to a feudal lord, a ministerial or ministerialis”), from Latin ministerium (“employment, ministration; office of a minister, ministry; action or attendance by an inferior person such as a slave, service”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives). Ministerium is derived from minister (“accomplice; agent; aide; attendant; servant; waiter”) (probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mey-n- (“little, small”) + *-yōs (“-er”, comparative suffix) + *-teros (contrastive or oppositional suffix forming adjectives)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). Doublet of ministerial and ministerialis. The verb is derived from the noun.
1
Also, Figuratively To play (a tune on a musical instrument); to sing (a song).
Blest be the impulse which did urge me forth, / Minstrelling winds with music, which did melt / Into kind ears like softly opening showers, / To those who asked if beggar wanted bread.1858, J[ohn] F[razer] Corkan, An Hour Ago: Or Time in Dreamland. A Mystery, London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts, →OCLC, page 93:
And instantly from the depts of the black recesses behind the reredos of the altar there slid like slanting light-rays through the air a little creature, a tenuous grey bird, an embodied breeze, a flash of life. It settled, still minstreling its luted sibboleth, to a fluttering rest in the panting bosom of Areta.1896, M[atthew] P[hipps] Shiel, “Part II—Shape III: Phorfor”, in Shapes in the Fire: Being a Mid-winter-night’s Entertainment in Two Parts and an Interlude (The Keynotes Series; 29), London: John Lane, […]; Boston, Mass.: Roberts Bros., →OCLC, page 276:
1 more example
[The sense that African Canadians began to appear about the time that Pierre Elliott Trudeau became prime minister of Canada in 1968] has lead [sic] to the perception that black [Canadian] writing, minstreling the pioneer mythologies of survival, simply records the struggle of (West Indian) immigrants against a cold, white, bitterly racist Canada.1997 spring–summer, Peter Hudson, “Editor’s Note: In the Country of the Snow Blind”, in West Coast Line: A Journal of Contemporary Writing and Criticism, volume 31, number 1, Burnaby, B.C.: Department of English, Simon Fraser University, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 5; quoted in George Elliott Clarke, “Embarkation: Discovering Africa-Canadian Literature”, in Odysseys Home: Mapping African-Canadian Literature, Toronto, Ont.; Buffalo, N.Y.: University of Toronto Press, 2002, →ISBN, note 5, page 19:
2
Also, Figuratively To act as a minstrel; to entertain by playing a musical instrument, singing, etc.
Crown me, therefore,—and minstrelling near to thy fanes, Bacchus, thickly-adorned with rosy chaplets will I dance with a full-bosomed maid.1830, Anacreon, “Ode V. On the Rose.”, in T. W. C. Edwards, transl., Τα του Ανακρεοντος του Τηιου Μελη = The Odes of Anacreon the Teian Bard, Literally Translated into English Prose; […], London: […] [J. M‘Gowan and Son] for W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, […], →OCLC, page 22:
[T]here are hotels in Kertch, the keepers of which bring over a band of musicians, singing men and singing women, especially the latter, every year for the amusement of [ship] masters, who, […] lavishly distribute bottles of champagne, and other delicacies, to these minstreling angels—women, and pay away their roubles as if they were coppers.1872 March 26, Peter Barrow, “Correspondence. Lightening Ships over Yenicalee Bar.”, in The Nautical Magazine. A Journal of Papers on Subjects Connected with Maritime Affairs, volume XLI (New Series), London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co. […]; and J. D. Potter, […], published June 1872, →OCLC, page 492:
3 more examples
[T]he three of us will set forth from this fortress of mighty stone and like troubadours of old we will go a-minstreling from village to village!1921, Al Jennings, “Methods of O. Henry; His Promotion; the Singing of Sally Castleton; O. Henry’s Indifference; the Explanation”, in Through the Shadows with O. Henry, New York, N.Y.: The H. K. Fly Company, →OCLC, page 185:
Cutwolf was not just acting the troubadour, the jongleur, the travelling minstrel, he was also Beauchamp's spy. […] Once he'd finished minstrelling, he would invite others to make their contribution about life along the alleyways of Dowgate and the surrounding wards. Everyone was eager to participate and, in anticipation during the day, garner as much tittle-tattle and gossip as possible.2012, Paul Doherty, “The Physician’s Tale”, in The Midnight Man: The Physician’s Tale of Mystery and Murder as He Goes on a Pilgrimage from London to Canterbury, Sutton, Surrey: Crème de la Crime, Severn House Publishers, →ISBN, part 5, page 138:
But to come to a sick world like Burma, as a meteoric Kulturträger [culture carrier], minstrelling about the advantages of freedom over slavery, is an imposture, a Schweinerei, [disgrace] with Germanic overtones.2015, Vincent Giroud, “The Rasputin Years”, in Nicolas Nabokov: A Life in Freedom and Music, Oxford, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN: