minstrelsy

[ min-struhl-see ]

noun

1. the art or practice of a minstrel.
2. minstrels' songs, ballads, etc.:

   a collection of Scottish minstrelsy.

minstrelsy

/ ˈmɪnstrəlsɪ /

noun

1. the art of a minstrel
2. the poems, music, or songs of a minstrel
3. a troupe of minstrels

Word History and Origins

Origin of minstrelsy¹

1275–1325; Middle English minstralcie (< Anglo-French menestralsie ) < Anglo-Latin ministralcia, menestralcia. See minstrel, -cy

Example Sentences

“For example, the ‘Amistad’ story happened exactly at the time when minstrelsy was starting to become the principal form of entertainment,” Davis says.

From Seattle Times

In a modern form of minstrelsy, these white musicians safely provided ‘Black’ music to white audiences.”

From Salon

In what I hope is meant to suggest the falseness of these stories, Brown pounds the pastiche in the songs so hard it borders on minstrelsy: hip-hop for the fixer; fiddle schmaltz for the pilgrims.

From New York Times

From where I sit, the election looks like a kind of grotesque minstrelsy.

From Salon

But what was once the norm can now seem a kind of ableist minstrelsy, which this production attempts to sidestep by offering a Richard with no physical impairments at all.

From New York Times