macaroni
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macaroni¹
- /mæk.əˈɹəʊ.ni/ UK
- /ˌmæk.əˈɹoʊ.ni/ US
Rhymes with -əʊni
Where it comes from
From Italian maccaroni (plural of maccarone (archaic variant of maccheroni (“fool”))), of uncertain origin. Variously derived from late Medieval Greek μακαρία (makaría, “food made from barley”), from Ancient Greek μάκαρ (mákar, “blessed; favored by the gods”), or from maccare (archaic variant of ammaccare (“to bruise; to crush”)), from Latin maccāre of the same meaning. Compare Sicilian maccarruni (“a single piece of macaroni”).
* As a fop, apparently from the British Macaroni Club rather than from Italian use of maccarone for fools and bumpkins.
* As a former form of currency, used to calque Spanish macuquino (18th-century colonial slang for a similarly clipped coin).
noun macaronis · macaronies · maccaroni
-
A type of pasta in the form of short tubes, typically boiled and served in soup, with a sauce, or in melted cheese; a dish of this.
Take half a pound of small pipe-macaroni.
Similar: mac, maccheroni
- Pasta, particularly thicker noodles, spaghetti. Paste made into strings like pack-thread or thongs of whit-leather (which if greater they call Macaroni, if lesser Vermicelli) they cut in pieces and put in their pots as we do oat-meal to make their menestra or broth of.
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Synonym of gnocchi (“Italian dumpling made of potato or semolina”).
Maccaróni, a kind of meat made of round peeces of paste, boyled in water and put into a dish with butter, spice and grated-cheese vpon them.
Similar: gnocchi
-
A dandy or fop, particularly in the 18th century a young Englishman who had travelled in Europe and subsequently dressed and spoke in an ostentatiously affected Continental manner.
... the Maccaroni Club (which is composed of all the travelled young men who wear long curls and spying-glasses) ...
Similar: cockscomb, popinjay, poseur, barbermonger, beau, blade, blood, buck, carpet knight, dandy, dike, dood
- A 19th-century quarter-silver dollar coin, typically a full 2-real coin or a quarter clipping of an 8-real coin from Central or South America. The silver coins are dollars (6s. 8d.), half dollars, and quarter dollars, or maccaronies as they are here popularly called.
- Ellipsis of macaroni penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus). 15 penguins were hatched and reared in the Edinburgh Zoo—seven kings, four gentoos, three maccaronis, and one ringed.
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Synonym of Italian (“a person from Italy or of Italian ethnicity”).
Surely I shall always be able, go where I will, among frogs or maccaronis, to procure sucre noir, or inchiostro nero.
Similar: Italian
- Ellipsis of macaroni tool Now take the maccaroni and cut away the wood on either side of the vein...
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Synonym of lizard canary.
Lizards are known among Scotchmen as ‘macaronies’.
Similar: lizard canary
- A mix of languages in macaronic verse. ... political songs in Latin or in a maccaroni of Latin and English ...
-
Nonsense; meaningless talk.
Yes. Jam, macaroni, cockadoodle. We're plain people out hereaways, not mantle ornaments.
Similar: absurdity, all my eye, all my eye and Betty Martin, apple grease, applesauce, bafflegab, balderdash, balls, baloney, banana oil, Bandini, baragouin
adjective more macaroni · most macaroni · maccaroni
- Chic, fashionable, stylish; in the manner of a macaroni.
macaroni²
- /mak.əˈɹəʊ.ni/ UK
- /ˌmækəˈɹoʊni/ US
Rhymes with -əʊni
Where it comes from
From French macaron. Doublet of macaron.
noun macaronis · maccaroni
- A macaroon. Macaroni. It comes from Italy. It is a biscuit made of almonds, eggs, flower, and sugar.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: pasta, pulp, elbow macaroni, maccheroni, ziti, macaroni cheese, chinese macaroni, cavatappi, macaroni salad, spaghetti, macaroni wheat, linguine, macaroon, maccaron, noodle, capellini
Translations
Every language
noun type of pasta
| Español | macarrones, macarrón, codito |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 마카로니 makaroni |
| 日本語 | マカロニ makaroni |
| 中文 | 通心粉 tōngxīnfěn, 通心麵 /通心面 tōngxīnmiàn |
| Português | macarrão |
| Français | macaronis |
| Deutsch | Makkaroni |
| Italiano | maccheroni |
| Ελληνικά | κοφτό μακαρονάκι koftó makaronáki |
| Русский | макаро́ны makaróny, рожки́ rožkí |
| Tiếng Việt | macarôni, mì ống, mì ống cong |
| العربية | مَكَرُونَة makarūna, مَعْكَرُونَة maʕkarūna |
Talk about this word "macaroni." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/macaroni. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. macaroni. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/macaroni "macaroni." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/macaroni.Cite this
@misc{macaroni_2026,
title = {macaroni},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/macaroni},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
