fiddler vs minstrel

fiddler

noun
  • One who plays the fiddle. 

  • One who fiddles; a cheat. 

  • A burrowing crab of the genus Gelasimus, of many species. The male has one claw very much enlarged, and often holds it in a position similar to that in which a musician holds a fiddle. 

  • A large species of cicada, Macrotristria angularis, of eastern Australia; cherry nose. 

  • The common European sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos); so called because it habitually wags its tail up and down resembling the back and forth movement of a fiddler. 

minstrel

noun
  • Originally, an entertainer employed to juggle, play music, sing, tell stories, etc.; a buffoon, a fool, a jester; later, a medieval (especially travelling) entertainer who would recite and sing poetry, often to their own musical accompaniment. 

  • One of a troupe of entertainers, often a white person who wore black makeup (blackface), to present a so-called minstrel show, being a variety show of banjo music, dance, and song (now sometimes regarded as racist). 

  • Any lyric poet, musician, or singer. 

  • An amphetamine tablet, typically black, or black and white, in colour. 

verb
  • To play (a tune on a musical instrument); to sing (a song). 

  • To act as a minstrel; to entertain by playing a musical instrument, singing, etc. 

How often have the words fiddler and minstrel occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )