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

>