troubadour \TROO-buh-dawr, -dohr, -door\, noun:
1. one of a class of medieval lyric poets who flourished principally in southern France from the 11th to 13th centuries, and wrote songs and poems of a complex metrical form in langue d'oc, chiefly on themes of courtly love. Compare trouvère.
2. any wandering singer or minstrel.
One day a troubadour appeared at the castle and was invited to stay and sing for the nobleman's court.
-- Thomas Sanchez, Day of the Bees, 2000
…whenever a troubadour lays down the guitar and takes up the sword trouble is sure to follow.
-- O. Henry, Sixes and Sevens, 1902
While the origin of troubadour is not entirely known, it is thought to have come from Old Provencal trobar meaning "to find," "invent a song" or compose in verse.
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