Sangster

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a person who sings, especially a poet or minstrel who performs songs ; a family name of Scottish origin borne by people in various places
2. A singer, used in older English for one who performs songs ; a surname common in Scotland and among Scottish-descended families
3. Old-fashioned word for someone who sings or chants verses ; a last name of Scottish origin carried by individuals and families

Etymology: Sangster is a word of Old English origin, built from "sang" plus the agent suffix "-ster." The suffix is the same one found in "spinster" and "huckster," and it marked a person who performed or was associated with an action. A sangster was simply someone who sang, and the word has been recorded in English since the medieval period, with the sense of a singer or minstrel. The suffix is the more interesting part. In Old English, "-ster" was a feminine-leaning agent ending, and its meaning gradually narrowed or shifted in many words. "Spinster" came to mean an unmarried woman, while "sangster" never acquired such a specialized sense and stayed a general term for a singer. Its later life was mostly in poetry and dialect, where it survived as a quaint term for a performer of songs.