Macaroni comes from Italian maccheroni, plural form of maccherone. The academic consensus supports the position that the word is derived from the Greek μακαρία (makaría), a type of barley broth which was served to commemorate the dead. In turn, that comes from μάκαρες (mákares), meaning the 'BLESSED ones, BLESSED dead', the plural of μάκαρ (mákar), which means 'BLESSED, happy'.