MANDARIN DEFINITIONS - 8 definitions found
mandarin 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] mandarin "Chinese official," 1589, via Port. mandarim or Du. mandorijn from Malay mantri, from Hindi mantri "councilor, minister of state," from Skt. mantri, nom. of mantrin- "advisor," from mantra "counsel," from PIE base *men- "to think" (see mind). Form infl. in Port. by mandar "to command, order." Used generically for the several grades of Chinese officials; sense of "chief dialect of Chinese" (spoken by officials and educated people) is from 1604. The type of small, deep-colored orange so called from 1771, from resemblance of its color to that of robes worn by mandarins. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003) mandarin I. noun Etymology: Portuguese mandarim, from Malay mĕntĕri, 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> Oxford English Reference Dictionary
The Nuttall Encyclopaedia (1907) Mandarin the name given by foreigners, derived from the Portuguese, signifying to "command," to Chinese official functionaries, of which there are some nine orders, distinguished by the buttons on their caps, and they are appointed chiefly for their possession of the requisite qualifications for the office they aspire to. Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 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}) Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 56 Moby Thesaurus words for "mandarin": 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 |
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