1610s, in reference to a form of verse consisting of vernacular words in a Latin context with Latin endings; applied loosely to verse in which two or more languages are jumbled together; from Modern Latin macaronicus (coined 1517 by Teofilo Folengo), from dialectal Italian maccarone (see macaroni), in reference to the mixture of words in the verse: "quoddam pulmentum farina, caseo, botiro compaginatum, grossum, rude, et rusticanum" [Folengo].