From Italian maccaroni (plural of maccarone (archaic variant of maccheroni (“fool”))), of uncertain origin. Variously derived from late Byzantine 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).
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.1778, Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery..., new ed., p. 124
"I can recommend this macaroni, for it is my favourite dish: I am very national. You will not take any? Ah, young ladies are, or ought to be, light eaters. Your ladyship will, I trust, set your fair companion an example."1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter II, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 32:
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.1673, John Ray, Observations..., page 405:
MACARONI... is a preparation of wheat originally peculiar to Italy, in which country it is an article of food of national importance. The same substance in different forms is also known as vermicelli, pasta or Italian pastes, taglioni, fanti, &c.1883, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. XV, s.v.
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Obsolete 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.1611, John Florio, Queen Anna's New World of Words, s.v:
He doth learne to make ſtrange ſauces, to eat ænchouies, maccaroni, bouoli, fagioli, and cauiare, becauſe hee loues ’hem; […]1600 (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Cynthias Reuels, or The Fountayne of Selfe-Loue. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act II, scene iii, page 203:
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Derogatory, Historical 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) ...1764 February 6, Horace Walpole, letter to the Earl of Hertford
Lady Falkener's daughter is to be married to a young rich Mr. Crewe, a Macarone...1764 May 27, Horace Walpole, letter to the Earl of Hertford
4 more examples
There is indeed a kind of animal, neither male nor female, a thing of the neuter gender, lately started up amongst us. It is called a Macaroni. It talks without meaning, it smiles without pleasantry, it eats without appetite, it rides without exercise, it wenches without passion.1770 June, Oxford Magazine, page 228:
I wanted you to be a man of spirit; your ambition was to appear a first-rate Macaroni; you are returned fully qualified, and determined, I see, to shew the world what a contemptible creature an English-man dwindles into, when he adopts the follies and vices of other nations.1773, Robert Hitchcock, The Macaroni, Act I
'Sure never were seen two such beautiful Ponies; Other Horses are Clowns—and these macaronies1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, II.ii:
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.1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter XI, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC:
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Hobbies, Lifestyle, NumismaticsCaribbean, Historical 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.1808, John Stewart, An Account of Jamaica..., page 59:
15 penguins were hatched and reared in the Edinburgh Zoo—seven kings, four gentoos, three maccaronis, and one ringed.1955 May 16, The Times, page 5:
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Ethnic, Slur 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.1845 December 15, Frances Anne Kemble, letter
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Abbreviation, Ellipsis, Obsolete Ellipsis of macaroni tool.
Now take the maccaroni and cut away the wood on either side of the vein...1867, George Alfred Rogers, The Art of Wood Carving, page 12:
... political songs in Latin or in a maccaroni of Latin and English ...1884, James Edwin Thorold Rogers, Six Centuries of Work and Wages, volume I, page 166:
From Italian maccaroni (plural of maccarone (archaic variant of maccheroni (“fool”))), of uncertain origin. Variously derived from late Byzantine 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).
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Historical Chic, fashionable, stylish; in the manner of a macaroni.
macaroni
noun
UK /mak.əˈɹəʊ.ni/ · US /ˌmækəˈɹoʊni/
Etymology From French macaron. Doublet of macaron.
Macaroni. It comes from Italy. It is a biscuit made of almonds, eggs, flower, and sugar.1777, Charlotte Mason, The lady's assistant for regulating and supplying her table: being a complete system of cookery, containing one hundred and fifty select bills of fare, properly disposed for family dinners ... with upwards of fifty bills of fare for suppers ... and several desserts: including likewise, the fullest and choicest receipts of various kinds ...^(http://books.google.com/books?id=14IEAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22paste%22+Italy+(%22macaroni%22+OR+%22maccheroni%22+OR+%22spaghetti%22)&source=gbs_navlinks_s) (cooking), page 300: