jongleur

views updated Jun 11 2018

jongleur (Fr., ‘juggler’). Medieval Fr. mus. entertainer or wandering minstrel who sang, played an instr., and was juggler and acrobat. See Meistersinger, ménestrel, and Minnesinger.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE

jongleur

views updated Jun 08 2018

jongleur itinerant minstrel in medieval France. XVIII. — F., alt. of jougleur (OF. jogleor) (see JUGGLER).

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

jongleur

views updated Jun 11 2018

jongleur in the Middle Ages, an itinerant minstrel. The word is French, a variant of jougleur ‘juggler’, earlier jogleor ‘pleasant, smiling’, from Latin joculator ‘joker’.

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable ELIZABETH KNOWLES

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