Definition of MACARONI

Did You Know?

As you may have suspected, the macaroni in the song "Yankee Doodle" is not the familiar food. The feather in Yankee Doodle's cap apparently makes him a macaroni in the now rare "fop" or "dandy" sense. The sense appears to have originated with a club established in London by a group of young, well-traveled Englishmen in the 1760s. The founders prided themselves on their appearance, sense of style, and manners, and they chose the name Macaroni Club to indicate their worldliness. Because macaroni was, at the time, a new and rather exotic food in England, the name was meant to demonstrate how stylish the club's members were. The members were themselves called macaronis, and eventually macaroni became synonymous with dandy and fop.

Examples of macaroni in a Sentence

the glitter rock of the 1970s seemed more about mascaraed macaronis than about music

Recent Examples on the Web

Kinnavy’s personal favorites from the deli are the homemade potato salad and the macaroni salad. — Kimberly Fornek, chicagotribune.com, "Kramer Foods renovation to include a new deli counter and kitchen," 3 July 2018 Menus at the other American Social locations feature burgers, steak, truffle macaroni and cheese and a full bar. — Kyle Arnold, OrlandoSentinel.com, "South Florida's American Social Bar & Kitchen coming to Orlando," 25 May 2018 There are a billion ways to make macaroni and cheese. — Paula Forbes, GQ, "How to Make the Absolute Best Mac and Cheese," 18 Apr. 2018 Some decide to take their chances on another trip north, moving to The Dune, an otherworldly open-air market a few kilometers away, where macaroni and gasoline from Algeria are sold out of the back of pickups and donkey carts. — Fox News, "Algeria abandons 13,000 migrants in the Sahara," 25 June 2018 Some decide to take their chances on another trip north, moving to The Dune, an otherworldly open-air market a few kilometers away, where macaroni and gasoline from Algeria are sold out of the back of pickups and donkey carts. — Washington Post, "Walk or die: Algeria abandons 13,000 migrants in the Sahara," 25 June 2018 Some decide to take their chances on another trip north, moving to The Dune, an otherworldly open-air market a few miles away, where macaroni and gasoline from Algeria are sold out of the back of pickups and donkey carts. — Lori Hinnant, The Seattle Times, "Algeria abandons thousands of migrants in Sahara," 25 June 2018 Now, reports Angus Chen at NPR, researchers have taken a step toward figuring out why irritability and peckishness go together like macaroni and cheese. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "Being Hangry is Real, But You Can Control It," 13 June 2018 On Wednesday and Thursday, Paityn's Place Soul Food will sell snacks like nachos with pork or chicken or vegetables and macaroni and cheese on Wednesday and Thursday. — Polly Campbell, Cincinnati.com, "Food startups will be in the Rosedale (formerly Neon's) courtyard," 27 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'macaroni.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for macaroni

borrowed from regional Italian, plural of macarone (Tuscan maccherone) "tubular pasta," earlier also "stuffed pasta of various shapes," probably borrowed from Middle Greek makarṓneia "funeral hymn," later with the presumed meaning "food served at a funeral banquet" (whence Modern Greek dialect makarōniá in this sense), of uncertain origin

Note: Though the Greek origin of Italian macaroni appears likely, many details are unclear. It has been speculated that the word makarṓneia is a blend of makários "blessed" and aiṓnios "eternal" (words perhaps coupled in funeral orations and memorial services), though this etymology is quite tenuous. The development of the food sense is also difficult to explain—perhaps it has developed through association with Greek makaría "dish of broth and barley groats," an apparently ancient word of uncertain origin attested only in the work of the Greek lexicographer Hesychios (5th-6th century a.d.).

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