macaronic
Americanadjective
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composed of or characterized by Latin words mixed with vernacular words or non-Latin words given Latin endings.
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composed of a mixture of languages.
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mixed; jumbled.
His bureau drawer was a macaronic hodgepodge of unmatched socks.
noun
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macaronics, macaronic language.
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a macaronic verse or other piece of writing.
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of macaronic
First recorded in 1605–15; from New Latin macarōnicus, from dialectal Italian maccarone (from the association of macaroni as peasant food with the vernacular language of peasants) + Latin -icus; see origin at macaroni, -ic
Explanation
Something that's macaronic uses elements, like inflections or specific words, from another language. If you insert Latin words and phrases into your everyday speech, you can call it macaronic. The adjective macaronic most often describes a satirical writing style that adds Latin endings to everyday language, or uses puns made from a combination of two languages. The word's root is the dialectal Italian maccarone, "pasty food," or "dumpling," thought of as "peasant food," reflecting its sometimes derogatory intent. Macaronic writing is often funny, showing up in humorous poems, novels, and films. In speech, this style is sometimes called "code-switching."
Vocabulary lists containing macaronic
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He is fed a macaronic tangle of lines that would have choked the poet prince.
From Time Magazine Archive
The two cardinals indulge in an astounding macaronic jargon, the one of Italian mingled with Latin, the other of Latin mingled with French.
From A Short History of French Literature by George Saintsbury
The real thing is more nearly visible in Swift’s macaronic lines about Molly—‘Mollis abuti, Hasan acuti,’ etc.—another vein of fun which has been exceedingly well worked out by successive writers.
From By-ways in Book-land Short Essays on Literary Subjects by William Davenport Adams
Hitchcock, the Rev. Jeduthun, colleague of Mr. Wilbur, letter from, containing notices of Mr. Wilbur, ditto, enclosing macaronic verses, teacher of high-school.
From The Complete Poetical Works of James Russell Lowell by James Russell Lowell
On the other hand, it is argued that both Latin and French sermons were pronounced as each might seem suitable, before the laity, and that the macaronic style was actually practised in the pulpit.
From A History of French Literature Short Histories of the Literatures of the World: II. by Edmund Gosse
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
