spaghetti

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spaghetti

/spəˈɡɛti/ UK
/spəˈɡɛti/ US
[-ɾi] US

Rhymes with -ɛti

Where it comes from

The noun is borrowed from Italian spaghetti, the plural of spaghetto (“strand of spaghetti”), from spago (“cord, string, twine; thread”) + -etto (diminutive suffix). Spago is derived from Latin spagus (“twine”), probably from Ancient Greek σφάκος (sphákos, “apple sage (Salvia pomifera)”), probably from Pre-Greek. The verb is derived from the noun.

noun spaghettis

countable, uncountable, usually A type of pasta made in the shape of long thin strings. Her mother was cooking spaghetti for dinner.
Similar: pasghetti, sketti, spag
broadly, countable, uncountable, usually A dish that has spaghetti (noun 1 sense 1) as a main part of it, such as spaghetti bolognese.
Similar: pasghetti, sketti, spag
broadly, countable, derogatory, informal, uncountable, usually An Italian person.
Similar: macaroni, pizzahead
abbreviation, broadly, countable, ellipsis, uncountable, usually Ellipsis of spaghetti western (“a motion picture depicting a story of cowboys and desperadoes set in the American Old West, but produced by an Italian-based company and filmed in Europe, notably in Italy”).
attributive, broadly, informal, often, uncountable, usually Something physically resembling spaghetti (noun 1 sense 1) in appearance or consistency, or in being tangled. spaghetti grid spaghetti junction spaghetti limbs spaghetti strap spaghetti stripes
attributive, broadly, informal, often, uncountable, usually Electrical insulating tubing or electrical wiring.
attributive, broadly, informal, often, uncountable, usually Roads forming a complex junction, especially one with multiple levels on a motorway.
attributive, broadly, informal, often, uncountable, usually Disorderly strands of filament, caused by an error during the printing process. Coordinate term: blob of death
figuratively, informal, uncountable, usually Something confusing or intricate. The lands along the Danube, by contrast, seemed wide open. That is, if he could find his way through them. “Arrows drawn on maps build up into an astonishing spaghetti of population movement,” Mr. Winder writes, and a single city like Lviv, now in Ukraine, might also have been called Lemberg, Lember
abbreviation, derogatory, ellipsis, figuratively, informal, uncountable Ellipsis of spaghetti code (“unstructured or poorly structured program source code, especially code with many GOTO statements or their equivalent”).

noun

plural, rare plural of spaghetto

verb spaghettis · spaghettiing · spaghettied

humorous, informal, transitive To serve (someone) spaghetti (noun noun 1 sense 1). Visiting members expected to attend, and all will be properly spaghettied.
informal, transitive To cause (someone or something) to become, or appear to become, longer and thinner; to stretch. He spaghettied the referee when he landed on him.
informal, transitive To cause (something) to become tangled. All these are spaghettied together, as the following boxscore will show: […]
humorous, informal, intransitive To eat spaghetti (noun noun 1 sense 1). I have "spaghettied" from Ventimiglia to Brindisi and I doubt if I have ever eaten as excellent spaghetti, certainly none better nor richer, than I have enjoyed in the home of a very charming Maryland hostess.
informal, intransitive To become, or appear to become, longer and thinner. The oldest Lark spaghettied down to a noodle and slithered through the letterbox-like hole at the bottom of the cistern.
informal, intransitive To become tangled. The cables spaghettied onto the shoulder of the technician.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: marinara, wild, overcooked, squash, sandwiches, spaghettini, pasta, spaghettoni, noodle, spirali, fusilli, pasghetti, linguine, macaroni, spaghetti pizza, vermicelli

Translations

Every language

noun type of pasta made in the shape of long thin strings

Español	espagueti
한국어	스파게티 seupageti
日本語	スパゲッティ supagetti
中文	意大利粉 yìdàlìfěn, 意大利麵 /意大利面 yìdàlìmiàn, 意大利麵條 /意大利面条 yìdàlì miàntiáo, 意粉 yìfěn, 意麵 /意面 yìmiàn, 義麵 /义面 yìmiàn
हिन्दी	स्पगेटी spageṭī
Kiswahili	spageti
Português	spaghetti, espaguete, esparguete
Français	spaghettis
Deutsch	Spaghetti, Spagetti
Italiano	spaghetto
Ελληνικά	σπαγγέτι spangéti, μακαρόνια makarónia
Română	spaghete
Русский	спаге́тти spagétti
Tiếng Việt	spaghetti
العربية	مَعْكَرُونَة maʕkarūna, سَبَاغِيتِي sabāḡītī
עברית	סְפָּגֶטִי spagéti

noun dish that has spaghetti (sense 1) as a main part of it

日本語	スパゲッティ supagetti
Français	spaghettis
Italiano	spaghetti
Ελληνικά	μακαρόνια makarónia
Română	spaghete
Русский	спаге́тти spagétti

noun electrical insulating tubing; electrical wiring

Français	gaine
Deutsch	Isolationsschlauch

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Cite this

MLA

"spaghetti." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/spaghetti. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

spaghetti. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/spaghetti

Chicago

"spaghetti." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/spaghetti.

BibTeX

@misc{spaghetti_2026,
  title = {spaghetti},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/spaghetti},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}