troubadour

noun

trou·​ba·​dour ˈtrü-bə-ˌdȯr 

-ˌdu̇r

1

: one of a class of lyric poets and poet-musicians often of knightly rank who flourished from the 11th to the end of the 13th century chiefly in the south of France and the north of Italy and whose major theme was courtly love compare trouvère

2

: a singer especially of folk songs

Did you know?

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

Recent Examples on the Web

But the aura is straight-up emo, giving Snoop a woozy troubadour vibe. —Will Dukes, Rolling Stone, 13 Dec. 2024

As such, while a film like the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown—starring Timothée Chalamet as the iconic music troubadour—won’t be released in theaters until December 25, its studio Fox Searchlight screened the film on December 5 in my market. —Tim Lammers, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024

How aware was the legendary troubadour of Timothée Chalamet, or ‘Timmy’ as Mangold calls him? —Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 6 Dec. 2024

Sturgill Simpson as Johnny Blue Skies, Passage Du Desir Making good on a pledge to release just five proper studio albums under his government name, country troubadour Sturgill Simpson returned as Johnny Blue Skies for the summer’s surprise release Passage Du Desir. —Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 3 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

French, from Old Occitan trobador, from trobar to compose, from Vulgar Latin *tropare, from Latin tropus trope

First Known Use

circa 1741, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

troubadour

noun

trou·​ba·​dour ˈtrü-bə-ˌdō(ə)r 

-ˌdȯ(ə)r,

-ˌdu̇(ə)r

: a poet-musician of the Middle Ages in France and Italy