gleeman means A professional singer, bard, or other entertainer. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
gleeman is pronounced /ˈɡliːmən/.
Why “gleeman” is a great word
GLEEMAN — [Noun] A professional, itinerant singer, musician, or entertainer of medieval England. From Middle English gleman, gleoman, from Old English glēomann, glīġman, corresponding to glee ("music; minstrelsy; entertainment") + man. Unlike the court-bound Anglo-Saxon scop, a composer of formal heroic verse, or the versatile French jongleur, a performer of acrobatics and juggling, the gleeman was a solitary tradesman of melody and tale. He is the hoarse voice rising from a smoky tavern corner, the warm rasp of a thumb across a harp's gut string, and the bearer of ballads along muddy tracks—a transient, human thread stitching music and memory into a scattered world.
Etymology
From Middle English gleman, gleoman, from Old English glēomann, glīġman, corresponding to glee (“music; minstrelsy; entertainment”) + man. Cognate with Scots gle-man, gleman (“gleeman, minstrel”).
noun
- A professional singer, bard, or other entertainer.“The ancient Celts carefully distinguished the poet, who was originally a priest and judge as well and whose person was sacrosanct, from the mere gleeman.”