What does macaroni mean?
Macaroni is an English word for pasta shaped into short, hollow tubes, typically boiled and served with sauce, cheese, or other ingredients. The best-known expression is “macaroni and cheese,” a baked or sauced dish in which the pasta is combined with a cheese sauce. Macaroni is usually treated as a mass noun: one may refer to “a piece of macaroni,” but the food in general remains uncounted and takes no regular plural ending. In an older and now largely humorous sense, a “macaroni” is an extravagantly curled hairstyle resembling the pasta. The culinary meaning is standard in both British and American English. Although the name can cause confusion with the French macaron, the two foods are unrelated: a macaron is a delicate almond meringue cookie, while macaroni is tubular pasta.
Pasta made in short hollow tubes, commonly served with sauce, cheese, or in a baked dish.
"The children asked for macaroni and cheese on Friday night."
Normally used as a mass noun; “pieces of macaroni” is appropriate when individual tubes are meant.
An exaggerated, elaborately curled hairstyle resembling coiled pasta.
"The performer sported a dramatic macaroni wig."
This sense is informal, dated, and chiefly humorous.
Macaroni is normally a mass noun and is not inflected as a plural. Individual tubes may be called pieces of macaroni, while a serving is simply macaroni.
"There was plenty of macaroni left in the baking dish."
Macaronis got their name from their shape: the Italian word behind the dish ultimately evokes a long, small piece of pasta.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does macaroni come from?
The word entered English in the sixteenth century from Italian maccheroni, originally the plural of maccherone, a regional form meaning a small piece of long pasta. Italian maccherone was borrowed from a late Greek word connected with makros, “long,” and the maccheroni became widely associated with pasta tubes. The spelling macaroni reflects the more familiar Italian form and has remained the standard English name for the pasta.
How macaroni is actually used
In culinary use, macaroni is normally a mass noun and is not pluralized: a single tube is described as a piece of macaroni, while the dish is simply macaroni. The hairstyle sense is informal, dated, and often humorous.
Easily confused with macaroni
A macaron is a French almond meringue cookie with a filling, whereas macaroni is tubular pasta.