Pertaining to a mixture of two or more languages. The language spoken/written in Pepé le Pew cartoons is a good example ("pourquois runnez-vous?"). It's common in poetry and songs too.

Believe it or not, the word actually does come from "macaroni." I'll have to double-check on the history of how that happened.

Here's an example of a macaronic Welsh song:

Ye lads all thro' the country
Gwrandewch ar hyn y stori (listen to this story)
You better go dros ben a graig (over the top of a cliff)
Than go with gwraig i'r gwely (wife to bed)

And so on...

Mac`a*ro"ni*an (?), Mac`a*ron"ic (?), a. [Cf. It. maccheronico, F. macaronique.]

1.

Pertaining to, or like, macaroni (originally a dish of mixed food); hence, mixed; confused; jumbled.

2.

Of or pertaining to the burlesque composition called macaronic; as, macaronic poetry.

 

© Webster 1913

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