Lexic.us

Definition of Mandarin

1. Noun. 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.

2. Noun. A member of an elite intellectual or cultural group.

3. Noun. Any high government official or bureaucrat.

4. Noun. A high public official of imperial China.

5. Noun. A somewhat flat reddish-orange loose skinned citrus of China.

6. Noun. The dialect of Chinese spoken in Beijing and adopted as the official language for all of China.

Definition of Mandarin

1. n. A Chinese public officer or nobleman; a civil or military official in China and Annam.

Definition of Mandarin

1. Proper noun. Standard Mandarin, the official language of China and Taiwan, and one of four official languages in Singapore; Putonghua, Guoyu or Huayu ¹

2. Proper noun. A branch of the Chinese languages, consisting of many dialects; Guanhua or Beifanghua. ¹

3. Noun. (historical) A high government bureaucrat of the Chinese Empire. ¹

4. Noun. A pedantic or elitist bureaucrat. ¹

5. Noun. (often pejorative) A pedantic senior person of influence in academia or literary circles. ¹

6. Noun. A mandarin duck. ¹

7. Noun. (informal British) A senior civil servant. ¹

8. Adjective. Pertaining to mandarins. ¹

9. Adjective. Deliberately superior or complex; esoteric, elaborate. ¹

10. Noun. A mandarin orange; a small, sweet citrus fruit. ¹

11. Noun. A mandarin orange tree. ¹

12. Noun. An orange colour. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Mandarin

1. a citrus fruit [n -S]

Medical Definition of Mandarin

1. 1. A Chinese public officer or nobleman; a civil or military official in China and Annam. 2. A small orange, with easily separable rind. It is thought to be of Chinese origin, and is counted a distinct species (Citrus nobilis). Mandarin duck, an artificial aniline dyestuff used for colouring silk and wool, and regarded as a complex derivative of quinoline. Origin: Pg. Mandarim, from Malay mantri minister of state, prop. A Hind. Word, fr. Skr. Mantrin a counselor, manira a counsel, man to think. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Mandarin

mancuses mand mandala mandalalike mandalas mandalic mandalically mandamus mandamused mandamuses

mandamusing mandap mandapa mandarah mandarahs mandarin mandarin collar mandarin duck mandarin ducks mandarin fishes

mandarin orange mandarin orange tree mandarin oranges mandarinate mandarinates mandarine mandarines mandarinic mandarining

Literary usage of Mandarin

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Things Chinese: Being Notes on Various Subjects Connected with China by James Dyer Ball (1893)
"In the city of Canton alone there are 100000 Mandarin speakers. All high officials require a knowledge of Mandarin, those who do not know it have therefore ..."

2. The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language by William Dwight Whitney (1890)
"Pertaining or suitable to a mandarin or to mandarins ; hence, ... Mandarin porcelain, decorative porcelain thought to be of Japanese origin, but sometimes ..."

3. Sidelights on Chinese Life by John Macgowan (1907)
"CHAPTER XIII THE Mandarin Mandarins' great power—Ambition of every father that son should be a mandarin—A famous Prime Minister—Description of a mandarin of ..."

4. Sidelights on Chinese Life by John Macgowan (1907)
"ANY man who is in office under the Government is called a mandarin. It must be understood, however, that he is actually in its service to get this ..."

5. The Monthly Magazine by Richard Phillips (1800)
"Mutes* A/aya, Second Wife of the Mandarin, arid The Suite of tic Mandarin. ... there comes an order to the mandarin from the emperor, who, informed of his ..."

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