n.
Pronunciation: ' man-d( ə -)r ə n
Function: noun
Etymology: Portuguese mandarim, from Malay m ĕ nt ĕ ri, from Sanskrit mantrin counselor, from mantra counsel ― more at MANTRA
Date: 1589
1 a : a public official in the Chinese Empire of any of nine superior grades b (1) : a pedantic official (2) : BUREAUCRAT c : a person of position and influence often in intellectual or literary circles especially : an elder and often traditionalist or reactionary member of such a circle
2 capitalized a : a form of spoken Chinese used by the court and the official classes of the Empire b : the group of closely related Chinese dialects that are spoken in about four fifths of the country and have a standard variety centering about Beijing
3 [Swedish mandarin ( apelsin ) mandarin (orange), ultimately from Portuguese mandarim mandarin; perhaps from the color of a mandarin's robes] a : a small spiny orange tree ( Citrus reticulata ) of southeastern Asia with yellow to reddish-orange loose-rinded fruits also : a tree (as the satsuma) developed in cultivation from the mandarin by artificial selection or hybridization b : the fruit of a mandarin
– man · da · rin · ic \ ˌ man-d ə - ' ri-nik \ adjective
– man · da · rin · ism \ ' man-d( ə -)r ə - ˌ ni-z ə m \ noun