MANDARIN

Mandarin, Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin dialect, Beijing dialect

(noun) the dialect of Chinese spoken in Beijing and adopted as the official language for all of China

mandarin, mandarin orange

(noun) a somewhat flat reddish-orange loose skinned citrus of China

mandarin

(noun) a high public official of imperial China

mandarin

(noun) any high government official or bureaucrat

mandarin

(noun) a member of an elite intellectual or cultural group

mandarin, mandarin orange, mandarin orange tree, Citrus reticulata

(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

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

Mandarin (uncountable)

Standard Mandarin, an official language of China and Taiwan, and one of four official languages in Singapore; Putonghua, Guoyu or Huayu

A branch of the Chinese languages, consisting of many dialects; Guanhua or Beifanghua.

Usage notes

• Standard Mandarin (language of the media and education) and Mandarin Chinese (the group of Northern Chinese dialects together with Standard Mandarin) are not always interchangeable and are referred to differently in Chinese. Both are a part of the broader group of languages (see Chinese: Zhongwen, Hanyu), dialects, or topolects.

Synonyms

• Beifanghua, Guanhua, Guoyu, Huayu, Mandarin Chinese, Putonghua, Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin, Standard Spoken Chinese

Anagrams

• Mirandan

Etymology 1

Noun

mandarin (plural mandarins)

(historical) a high government bureaucrat of the Chinese Empire [from 1580s]

a pedantic or elitist bureaucrat

(often, pejorative) a pedantic senior person of influence in academia or literary circles

(ornithology) Ellipsis of mandarin duck.

(informal, British) a senior civil servant

Adjective

mandarin (comparative more mandarin, superlative most mandarin)

pertaining to or reminiscent of mandarins; deliberately superior or complex; esoteric, highbrow, obscurantist [from 20th c.]

Etymology 2

Noun

mandarin (plural mandarins)

Ellipsis of mandarin orange.

a small, sweet citrus fruit

tree of species Citrus reticulata

(color) an orange colour

Anagrams

• Mirandan

Source: Wiktionary


Man`da*rin", n. Etym: [Pg. mandarim, from Malay mantri 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.)

Definition: A small orange, with easily separable rind. It is thought to be of Chinese origin, and is counted a distinct species (Citrus nobilis)mandarin orange; tangerine. Mandarin duck (Zoöl.), a beautiful Asiatic duck (Dendronessa galericulata), often domesticated, and regarded by the Chinese as an emblem of conjugal affection.

– Mandarin language, the spoken or colloquial language of educated people in China.

– Mandarin yellow (Chem.), an artificial aniline dyestuff used for coloring silk and wool, and regarded as a complex derivative of quinoline.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

9 November 2024

ARCTIID

(noun) stout-bodied broad-winged moth with conspicuously striped or spotted wings; larvae are hairy caterpillars


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Coffee Trivia

In 1884, Angelo Moriondo of Turin, Italy, demonstrated the first working example of an espresso machine.

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