vermicelli

noun

Etymology: From Italian vermicelli, plural of vermicello (“little worm”), from verme (“worm”), from Latin vermis + -cello (“diminutive suffix”).

1. Long, slender pasta, similar to spaghetti, only thinner.

   “They talked of the experiments of Dr. Darwin, (I speak not of what the Doctor really did, or said that he did, but, as more to my purpose, of what was then spoken of as having been done by him,) who preserved a piece of vermicelli in a glass case, till by some extraordinary means it began to move with voluntary motion.”

   “A favourite old cookbook (and a pile of parsley to use up) inspire this simple salsa verde – parsley, anchovies, capers, olives – in a fairytale tangle of vermicelli[.]”

2. Any type of long, thin noodles, as in rice vermicelli.

   “Super-thin rice noodles, or vermicelli, are de rigueur here, but as with pad thai the secret is all in the preparation.”

3. Chocolate sprinkles.