troubadour
noun
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In the Middle Ages, troubadours were the shining knights of poetry (in fact, some were ranked as high as knights in the feudal class structure). Troubadours made chivalry a high art, writing poems and singing about chivalrous love, creating the mystique of refined damsels, and glorifying the gallant knight on his charger. Troubadour was a fitting name for such creative artists: it derives from an Old Occitan word meaning "to compose." In modern contexts, troubadour still refers to the song-meisters of the Middle Ages, but it has been extended to cover contemporary poet-musicians as well.
Examples of troubadour in a Sentence
Sam Lipsyte, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2025
Two-time Grammy Award-winning Oceanside troubadour Jason Mraz will perform a pair of benefit concerts in February to raise funds for five San Diego nonprofit arts organizations.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Oct. 2025
That exquisitely rare skill — the ability to arrange a handful of ordinary notes in a way that makes time stop and pulses quicken — unites long-anonymous troubadours, symphonists, Broadway entertainers, earnest singer-songwriters, griots, and ancient clerics.
—Justin Davidson, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2025
The troubadour had done his homework.
—John U. Bacon, Rolling Stone, 30 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Troubadour.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/troubadour. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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troubadour
noun
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