macaronic
- 5 dictionary resultsmac⋅a⋅ron⋅ic
[mak-uh-ron-ik] 
əˈrɒn
| 1. | composed of or characterized by Latin words mixed with vernacular words or non-Latin words given Latin endings. |
| 2. | composed of a mixture of languages. |
| 3. | mixed; jumbled. |
| 4. | macaronics, macaronic language. |
| 5. | a macaronic verse or other piece of writing. |
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
| mac·a·ron·ic (māk'ə-rŏn'ĭk) adj.
[New Latin macaronicus, from Italian maccheronea, macaronic verse, after Maccharonea, title of a work containing such verse by Tifi Odasi, 15th-century Italian author, from maccherone, maccaroni, course food.] mac'a·ron'ic n. |
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Macaronic
Mac`a*ron"ic\, n. 1. A heap of thing confusedly mixed together; a jumble. 2. A kind of burlesque composition, in which the vernacular words of one or more modern languages are intermixed with genuine Latin words, and with hybrid formed by adding Latin terminations to other roots.Cite This Source
macaronic
Cite This Source
macaronic
originally, comic Latin verse form characterized by the introduction of vernacular words with appropriate but absurd Latin endings: later variants apply the same technique to modern languages. The form was first written by Tisi degli Odassi in the late 15th century and popularized by Teofilo Folengo, a dissolute Benedictine monk who applied Latin rules of form and syntax to an Italian vocabulary in his burlesque epic of chivalry, Baldus (1517; Le maccheronee, 1927-28). He described the macaronic as the literary equivalent of the Italian dish, which, in its 16th-century form, was a crude mixture of flour, butter, and cheese. The Baldus soon found imitators in Italy and France, and some macaronics were even written in mock Greek
Learn more about macaronic with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Cite This Source
