Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

macchiato

/ˌmɑkiˈɑtoʊ/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.34 in modern English

Syllables: ma-cchi-a-to
IPA: /ˌmɑkiˈɑtoʊ/

18

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Espresso topped with steamed milk.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Ellipsis of latte macchiato.

American usage; Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"Formerly used only in Italy and Seattle, it includes such tongue activators as latte, lungo, cappuccino, ristretto, macchiato, mochaccino and Americano."
"Kadar Al-Jahani glanced around at the rich Romans and the American tourists sipping their macchiati and cappuccini, and smiled."
"This is a city obsessed by coffee. Sydneysiders can tell their arabica from their robusta, their macchiati from their ristretti, and have been known to follow their favourite barista from café to café."
"Janie and I are having a couple of macchiati in Carluccio’s and discussing Judith Levine’s best-seller Not Buying It – A Year Without Shopping."
"The book’s contents are for the most part the result of scribbling on napkins over numerous macchiati and espressos away from the office at different posts over the years."
"Yellow cabs whizzed past, horns blared and people didn’t stop moving as they walked briskly down the sidewalks with their steaming cups of macchiato, mobile phones and iPods."

Etymology

From Italian caffè macchiato (“stained coffee”), from macchiato (“stained, marked”), as the coffee is “marked” with a spot of milk. From Latin maculātus (“stained”), form of macula (“stain”). Cognate to English macula (“[dark] spot”), French maculé.

Origin

Source language: Italian

Word Breakdown

Root: caffè macchiato, maculātus

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌmɑkiˈɑtoʊ/
British English: /ˌmækiˈɑːtəʊ/

Usage

Inflected Forms

macchiatos (plural) macchiati (plural, rare)

Phrases

latte macchiato

Frequently Paired Words

latte macchiato coffee cortado

Synonyms

caffè macchiato espresso macchiato

Rhymes With

tomato lovato gelato staccato mulatto vibrato legato guanajuato arigato annatto

Questions

How do you pronounce macchiato?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌmɑkiˈɑtoʊ/.
What does macchiato mean?: Espresso topped with steamed milk.
Where does macchiato come from?: It is traced to Italian.

How to pronounce macchiato

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “macchiato”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌmɑkiˈɑtoʊ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “macchiato”.
Repeat and practice — Say “macchiato” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.