Macaroni is a type of pasta that's long and curved like a big elbow. It's a popular ingredient in many Italian dishes.
When we talk about macaroni, we usually mean the food itself - whether it's served in a comforting casserole, tossed with olive oil and herbs as a side dish, or cooked with tomato sauce as a simple but satisfying meal. People often think of macaroni when they're looking for something easy to make, because it's so versatile and pairs well with many flavors. You might hear someone say "I'm making macaroni tonight" - in this case, the word is being used to refer specifically to the dish, rather than just the type of pasta itself.
How common is "macaroni"?
Word macaroni is considered rare in modern English. It has a balanced usage among all categories: speech, fiction, newspapers and academic texts.
Definitions
noun
(uncountable) 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.
Example: Take half a pound of small pipe-macaroni.
(uncountable, obsolete or informal, loosely) Pasta, particularly thicker noodles, spaghetti.
Example: 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.
(uncountable, obsolete) Synonym of gnocchi (“Italian dumpling made of potato or semolina”).
(countable, chiefly historical and derogatory) 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.
Example: ... the Maccaroni Club (which is composed of all the travelled young men who wear long curls and spying-glasses) ...
(countable, Caribbean, now historical, numismatics) 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.
(countable, zoology) Ellipsis of macaroni penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus).
(countable, ethnic slur) Synonym of Italian (“a person from Italy or of Italian ethnicity”).
Example: Surely I shall always be able, go where I will, among frogs or maccaronis, to procure sucre noir, or inchiostro nero.
(countable, obsolete) Ellipsis of macaroni tool.
(countable, Scotland, zoology, obsolete) Synonym of lizard canary.
(uncountable, literature, obsolete) A mix of languages in macaronic verse.
