Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Macaroni?

\Mac`a*ro"ni\, n.; pl. {Macaronis}, or {Macaronies}. [Prov. It. macaroni, It. maccheroni, fr. Gr. ? happiness, later, a funeral feast, fr. ? blessed, happy. Prob. so called because eaten at such feasts in honor of the dead; cf. Gr. ? blessed, i. e., dead. Cf. {Macaroon}.] 1. Long slender tubes made of a paste chiefly of wheat flour, and used as an article of food; Italian or Genoese paste. Note: 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. --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.