maccarruni

Sicilian

Etymology

Cognate with Italian maccherone, see there for more.

Noun

maccarruni m (plural maccarruna)

1. (chiefly in the plural) macaroni

   maccarruna di zita ― (please add an English translation of this usage example) (literally, “the bride's macaroni”)

   lu caciu nta li maccarruna ― a perfect situation (literally, “cheese on macaroni”)

   manciari li maccarruna 'n testa a 'n àutru ― to be smarter than someone else (literally, “to eat macaroni on top of someone else's head”)

   sìmplici comu l'acqua di li maccarruna ― (of a person) mischievous (literally, “as clear as the macaroni's water”)

   lavatu ntall'acqua di li maccarruna ― (of a person) foolish (literally, “washed in the macaroni's water”)

2. (figuratively) fool, idiot

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:babbu

   maccarruni senza sali (literally, “a saltless macaroni”)

3. (in the plural, nautical) wooden beams that support the gunwale (Is there an English equivalent to this definition?)

Derived terms

• maccarrunaru
• maccarrunarìa

Descendants

• → Maltese: mqarrun
• → Ottoman Turkish: مقارنه (makarna), maccarrúna (makaruna) (in a 1611 transcription text)
  • Turkish: makarna
  • → Armenian: մախառնա (maxaṙna), մաքառնա (makʻaṙna), մաքարնա (makʻarna), մաքառինա (makʻaṙina), մաքարինա (makʻarina), մակարինա (makarina)
  • → Bulgarian: макари́на (makarína)
  • → Georgian: მაკარინა (maḳarina)
  • → Laz: მაკარინა (maǩarina), მაკაინა (maǩaina), მაკაჲინა (maǩayina) — alternative spellings
  • → North Levantine Arabic: [script needed] (maqārna, maqarīna) — Damascus
  • → Pontic Greek: μακαρίνα (makarína)

References

• Traina, Antonino (1868) “maccarruni”, in Nuovo vocabolario Siciliano-Italiano [New Sicilian-Italian vocabulary] (in Italian), Liber Liber, published 2020, pages 2313–2314
• Pasqualino (c. 1790) “maccarruni”, in Vocabolario siciliano etimologico, italiano e latino (in Italian), volume 3, page 67