Adjacent Words

Mandarin definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MANDARIN, n. In China, a magistrate or governor of a province; also, the court language of China.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: shrub or small tree having flattened globose fruit with very sweet aromatic pulp and thin yellow-orange to flame- orange rind that is loose and easily removed; native to southeastern Asia [syn: mandarin, mandarin orange, mandarin orange tree, Citrus reticulata]
2: a member of an elite intellectual or cultural group
3: any high government official or bureaucrat
4: a high public official of imperial China
5: a somewhat flat reddish-orange loose skinned citrus of China [syn: mandarin, mandarin orange]
6: the dialect of Chinese spoken in Beijing and adopted as the official language for all of China [syn: Mandarin, Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin dialect, Beijing dialect]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Portuguese mandarim, from Malay m?nt?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 • mandarinic adjective • mandarinism noun II. adjective Date: 1604 1. of, relating to, or typical of a mandarin <mandarin graces> 2. marked by polished ornate complexity of language <mandarin prose>

Britannica Concise

In imperial China, a public official drawn from the ranks of the lesser officeholders who had achieved success in the Chinese examination system. The word comes from the Portuguese version of the Malay term for a minister of state. It has come to mean a pedantic official, a bureaucrat, or a person of position and influence (and usually a traditionalist or reactionary mindset) in intellectual or literary circles. The Mandarin language is the most widely spoken of the Chinese languages.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. 1 (Mandarin) the most widely spoken form of Chinese and the official language of China. 2 hist. a Chinese official in any of nine grades of the pre-Communist civil service. 3 a a party leader; a bureaucrat. b a powerful member of the establishment. 4 a a nodding Chinese figure, usu. of porcelain. b porcelain etc. decorated with Chinese figures in mandarin dress. Phrases and idioms: mandarin collar a small close-fitting upright collar. mandarin duck a small Chinese duck, Aix galericulata, noted for its bright plumage. mandarin sleeve a wide loose sleeve. Derivatives: mandarinate n. Etymology: Port. mandarim f. Malay f. Hindi mantri f. Skr. mantrin counsellor 2. n. (also mandarine) (in full mandarin orange) 1 a small flattish deep-coloured orange with a loose skin. 2 the tree, Citrus reticulata, yielding this. Also called TANGERINE. Etymology: F mandarine (perh. as MANDARIN(1), with ref. to the official's yellow robes)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mandarin Man`da*rin", n. [Pg. mandarim, from Malay mantr[=i] minister of state, prop. a Hind. word, fr. Skr. mantrin a counselor, manira a counsel, man to think.] 1. A Chinese public officer or nobleman; a civil or military official in China and Annam. 2. (Bot.) A small orange, with easily separable rind. It is thought to be of Chinese origin, and is counted a distinct species (Citrus nobilis)

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(mandarins) 1. Journalists sometimes use mandarin to refer to someone who has an important job in the Civil Service. (BRIT) ...Foreign Office mandarins. N-COUNT: usu supp N 2. Mandarin is the official language of China. 3. A mandarin or a mandarin orange is a small orange whose skin comes off easily. N-COUNT 4. A mandarin was, in former times, an important government official in China. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

Brahmin, authority, brainworker, bureaucrat, civil servant, doctor, egghead, elder, elder statesman, elitist, functionary, functionnaire, great soul, guru, highbrow, illuminate, intellect, intellectual, intellectualist, jack-in-office, literate, lover of wisdom, mahatma, man of intellect, man of wisdom, master, mastermind, mentor, name-dropper, office-bearer, officeholder, officer, official, officiary, oracle, petty tyrant, philosopher, placeman, prig, public official, public servant, rabbi, red-tapist, rishi, sage, sapient, savant, scholar, seer, snob, starets, thinker, tufthunter, white-collar intellectual, wise man, wise old man