Gleemen

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of performers specializing in music and entertainment, often associated with theatrical or folk traditions
2. Individuals skilled in singing and playing instruments, typically engaging audiences with lively performances
3. Entertainers known for their vocal and instrumental talents, historically popular in various cultural festivities

Etymology: "Gleemen" is the plural of "gleeman," a noun for a medieval entertainer who sang, played instruments, and performed for festive crowds. The word goes back to Old English "glēomann" and "glīġman," built from "glee," which at that time meant music, minstrelsy, or entertainment in general, and "man." Over the centuries the form was reshaped into Middle English "gleman" and "gleoman," and a close cousin survives in Scots as "gle-man" and "gleman," both meaning minstrel. The word's history is a tidy example of how a term can narrow over time. "Glee" once covered the whole business of performance, so a "gleeman" was simply a man who made that music for a living. Today "glee" has shrunk to a general word for joyfulness, and the old sense survives mainly in the compound and in the plural "gleemen," which is most often met in historical writing about the medieval entertainers who travelled between halls and fairs.