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Webster 1913 Edition


Macaroni

Macˊa-ro′ni

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Macaronis
(#)
, or
Macaronies
.
[Prov. It.
macaroni
, It.
maccheroni
, fr. Gr. [GREEK] happiness, later, a funeral feast, fr. [GREEK] blessed, happy. Prob. so called because eaten at such feasts in honor of the dead; cf. Gr. [GREEK] blessed, i. e., dead. Cf.
Macaroon
.]
1.
Long slender tubes made of a paste chiefly of a wheat flour such as semolina, and used as an article of food; a form of Italian
pasta
.
☞ A paste similarly prepared is largely used as food in Persia, India, and China, but is not commonly made tubular like the Italian macaroni.
Balfour (Cyc. of India).
2.
A medley; something droll or extravagant.
3.
A sort of droll or fool.
[Obs.]
Addison.
4.
A finical person; a fop; – applied especially to English fops of about 1775, who affected the mannerisms and clothing of continental Europe.
Goldsmith.
5.
pl.
(U. S. Hist.)
The designation of a body of Maryland soldiers in the Revolutionary War, distinguished by a rich uniform.
W. Irving.

Webster 1828 Edition


Macaroni

MACARO'NI

,
Noun.
[Gr. happy.]
1.
A kind of biscuit made of flour, eggs, sugar and almonds, and dressed with butter and spices.
2.
A sort of droll or fool, and hence, a fop; a fribble; a finical fellow.

Definition 2024


macaroni

macaroni

English

Noun

macaroni (countable and uncountable, plural macaronis)

  1. (uncountable) A type of pasta in the form of short tubes; sometimes loosely, pasta in general. [from 17th c.]
  2. (pejorative, now historical) A fop, a dandy; especially a young man in the 18th century who had travelled in Europe and who dressed and often spoke in an ostentatiously affected Continental manner. [from 17th c.]
    • 1890, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, ch. XI:
      Delicate lace ruffles fell over the lean yellow hands that were so overladen with rings. He had been a macaroni of the eighteenth century, and the friend, in his youth, of Lord Ferrars.
    • 1997, Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon:
      A small, noisy party of Fops, Macaronis, or Lunarians,—it is difficult quite to distinguish which,—has been working its way up the street.

Quotations

For usage examples of this term, see Citations:macaroni.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

Anagrams


Dutch

Pronunciation

Noun

macaroni n (uncountable)

  1. macaroni

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ma.ka.ʁɔ.ni/

Etymology

From Italian maccaroni, obsolete variant of maccheroni (macaroni), plural of maccherone, of uncertain origin.

Noun

macaroni m (plural macaronis)

  1. (usually in the plural) macaroni
  2. (ethnic slur) wop; a person of Italian descent.

Synonyms

Anagrams