Late 17th century: from Italian maccaroni (now usually spelled maccheroni), plural of maccarone, from late Greek makaria 'food made from barley'.

• When ‘Yankee Doodle went to town a-riding on a pony’ and ‘stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni’, he was not confusing his headgear with pasta. He was presenting himself as a dandy — completely unconvincingly, reflecting the English view of Americans, then still under British colonial rule, as lacking sophistication. In 18th-century Britain the macaronis were young men who had travelled abroad and exaggeratedly imitated continental fashions. The pasta dish pre-dated this trend. Its name also survives in macaroon (late 16th century), which came through French, changing its recipe on the way. Italian macaroni goes back to Greek makaria ‘food made from barley’.