spaghetti

noun

spa·​ghet·​ti spə-ˈge-tē How to pronounce spaghetti (audio)
1
: pasta made in thin solid strings
2
: insulating tubing typically of varnished cloth or of plastic for covering bare wire or holding insulated wires together
spaghettilike adjective

Examples of spaghetti in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The real dogs are ridiculously adorable, there's of course a scene with a meatball and spaghetti noodle, and the results could be a lot worse for the Mickey Mouse equivalent of a Hallmark Christmas movie. Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2025 Meghan Markle served hot single-skillet spaghetti in her Netflix series, but the ratings were lukewarm. Stephanie Nolasco, Fox News, 17 Mar. 2025 Prep Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 40 mins Total Time: 50 mins Servings: 6 Jump to Nutrition Facts Cowboy spaghetti is the ultimate comfort food mashup of beef and bean chili and spaghetti. Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Mar. 2025 Spring Pea Carbonara Wide tagliatelle noodles replace spaghetti in this spring-y version of carbonara. Betty Hallock, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for spaghetti

Word History

Etymology

Italian, from plural of spaghetto, diminutive of spago cord, string, from Late Latin spacus

First Known Use

1874, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of spaghetti was in 1874

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Spaghetti.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spaghetti. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.

Kids Definition

spaghetti

noun
spa·​ghet·​ti spə-ˈget-ē How to pronounce spaghetti (audio)
: a food made chiefly of a mixture of flour and water dried in the form of thin solid strings
Etymology

from Italian spaghetti "pasta made in long strings," from spaghetti, plural of spaghetto "little string," from spago "string"

Word Origin
The Italian word spago means "cord, string." The suffix -etto in Italian, like the suffix -ette in English, means "little one." Added together, spago and -etto become spaghetto, which means "little string." "Little string" describes very well the shape of a strand of spaghetti. The word spaghetti is actually the plural form of spaghetto.

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