Macaroni
/ˌmækəˈroʊni/noun
A type of pasta shaped as short hollow tubes; also, a style of extravagant dress or a foolish person in historical slang.
Did you know?The word ultimately traces back to Greek makaria, a funerary food connected with the dead, which makes macaroni one of those everyday words with a quietly eerie origin.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
makaria
“A kind of food made for funerary rites; associated with the blessed dead”
Late Greek
Greek
makarōnia
“A funeral feast or dish of remembrance”
Medieval Latin
Latin
maccaroni
“Pasta-like food; later associated with a specific kind of noodle”
Italian
Italian
maccheroni
“Macaroni, a pasta of various tube-like shapes”
16th-18th Century
English
macaroni
“Macaroni pasta; later, a fop or dandy, especially in the phrase 'macaroni fashion'”