troubadour means an itinerant composer and performer of songs in medieval Europe; a jongleur or travelling minstrel. It carries an Arena rating of 1852, earned across 14 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, troubadour ranks #456 of 42,747 for Qualifying, #569 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #2,305 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #2,388 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.
troubadour is pronounced /ˈtruːbəˌdɔː/.
Why “troubadour” is a great word
An itinerant composer and performer of lyric poetry and songs in medieval southern France, eastern Spain, and northern Italy, often of courtly and amorous themes. From Old Occitan trobar ('to find, invent, compose in verse') via Old French troubadour, first attested in English in 1727. Unlike a bard, who recounted epic histories of heroes, or a minstrel, who was often a general entertainer of lower station, the troubadour was a lyricist of aristocratic refinement, crafting original verse. He is the sound of a lute in a sun-drenched courtyard, the intricate rhyme of a canso praising a distant lady, and the figure on a dusty road carrying new melodies between castles—the fleeting, melodic record of a world ordered by love and its elaborate griefs.
Etymology
From Old Occitan trobar (“to find”) via Old French troubadour. Piecewise doublet of trouveur.
noun
- An itinerant composer and performer of songs in medieval Europe; a jongleur or travelling minstrel.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- troubadourism 79% match — The work of a troubadour; itinerant composition and performance of songs. vs troubadour →
- jongleur 76% match — An itinerant entertainer in medieval England and France; roles included song, music, acrobatics etc.; a troubadour. vs troubadour →
- trouveur 75% match — A minstrel, a troubadour. vs troubadour →
- troubadourish 73% match — Resembling or characteristic of a troubadour. vs troubadour →
- trobairitz 69% match — A female composer of Old Occitan lyric poetry; a female troubadour. vs troubadour →
- minstrel 65% match — 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. vs troubadour →
- minnesinger 64% match — A peripatetic musician in Germany in the 12th to the 14th centuries, often performing songs of courtly love. vs troubadour →
- tregetour 61% match — A magician or juggler; a trickster. vs troubadour →