English

Proper noun

Mandarin

1. Standard Mandarin, the official language of China and Taiwan, and one of four official languages in Singapore; Putonghua, Guoyu or Huayu
2. A branch of the Chinese languages, consisting of many dialects; Guanhua or Beifanghua.

Synonyms

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

Translations

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.

See also

• Wiktionary's coverage of Mandarin terms
• Appendix:Mandarin Swadesh list for a Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words in Mandarin
• Hanyu
• Zhongwen

Anagrams

• Mirandan

German

Noun

Mandarin m ‎(genitive Mandarins or Mandarines, plural Mandarine)

1. mandarin (Chinese Imperial official)

Proper noun

Mandarin n ‎(genitive Mandarins)

1. Mandarin, standard Chinese

Synonyms

• Hochchinesisch

English

Noun

mandarin ‎(plural mandarins)

1. (historical) A high government bureaucrat of the Chinese Empire.
2. A pedantic or elitist bureaucrat.
3. (often pejorative) A pedantic senior person of influence in academia or literary circles.
4. A mandarin duck.
5. (informal, Britain) A senior civil servant.

Derived terms

• mandarinate
• mandarinism
• mandarinship

Translations

Adjective

mandarin ‎(comparative more mandarin, superlative most mandarin)

1. Pertaining to or reminiscent of mandarins; deliberately superior or complex; esoteric, highbrow, obscurantist. [from 20th c.]
   • 1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society 2010, p. 58:

     A mandarin impassivity had descended over Smiley's face. The earlier emotion was quite gone.

   • 2007, Marina Warner, ‘Doubly Damned’, London Review of Books 29:3, p. 26:

     Though alert to riddles' strong roots in vernacular narrative, Cook's tastes are mandarin, and she gives a loving account of Wallace Stevens's meditations on the life of poetic images and simile […].

Etymology 2

From French mandarine, feminine of mandarin, probably formed as Etymology 1, above, from the yellow colour of the mandarins' costume.

Noun

mandarin ‎(plural mandarins)

1. A mandarin orange; a small, sweet citrus fruit.
2. A mandarin orange tree, Citrus reticulata.
3. An orange colour.

Translations

External links

• mandarin on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Mirandan

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

Spanish mandarín.

Noun

mandarin

1. mandarin (fruit)

Declension

References

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary], Simferopol: Dolya, ISBN 966-7980-89-8

Danish

Etymology

From Portuguese mandarim.

Noun

mandarin c (singular definite mandarinen, plural indefinite mandariner)

1. mandarin (Chinese Imperial bureaucrat)
2. mandarin orange, mandarin (a small, sweet citrus fruit)

Inflection

Noun

mandarin n

1. Mandarin

References

• “mandarin” in Den Danske Ordbog

Faroese

Etymology

From Danish mandarin, from Dutch mandorijn or Portuguese mandarim, mandarij, from Malay menteri, manteri, from Hindi mantri [script needed], from Sanskrit मन्त्रिन् ‎(mantrin, “minister, councillor”), from मन्त्र ‎(mantra, “counsel, maxim, mantra”) + -इन् ‎(-in, “an agent suffix”).

Noun

mandarin f (genitive singular mandarinar, plural mandarinir)

1. mandarin orange, mandarin (a small, sweet citrus fruit)

Declension

Noun

mandarin n (genitive singular mandarins)

1. Mandarin

Declension

See also

• mandarinur

French

Adjective

mandarin m ‎(feminine singular mandarine, masculine plural mandarins, feminine plural mandarines)

1. mandarin (of the former Chinese empire)

Noun

mandarin m ‎(uncountable)

1. Mandarin (language)

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɒndɒrin]
• Hyphenation: man‧da‧rin

Adjective

mandarin (not comparable)

1. mandarin (fruit)

Declension

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

Noun

mandarin ‎(plural mandarinok)

1. (historical) mandarin
2. (singular only) Mandarin (language)
3. mandarin (fruit)

Declension

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Sanskrit मन्त्रिन् ‎(mantrin, “minister, councillor”), Malay menteri, manteri, and Portuguese mandarim.

Noun

mandarin m ‎(definite singular mandarinen, indefinite plural mandariner, definite plural mandarinene)

1. (uncountable) Mandarin (official language in China)
2. a mandarin ((formerly) a Chinese official; (now) a bureaucrat)
3. (fruit) a mandarin or mandarin orange

References

• “mandarin” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Sanskrit मन्त्रिन् ‎(mantrin, “minister, councillor”), Malay menteri, manteri, and Portuguese mandarim.

Noun

mandarin m ‎(definite singular mandarinen, indefinite plural mandarinar, definite plural mandarinane)

1. (uncountable) Mandarin (official language in China)
2. a mandarin ((formerly) a Chinese official; (now) a bureaucrat)
3. (fruit) a mandarin or mandarin orange

References

• “mandarin” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mandǎriːn/
• Hyphenation: man‧da‧rin

Noun

mandàrīn m ‎(Cyrillic spelling манда̀рӣн)

1. mandarin (Chinese Imperial bureaucrat)

Declension

Swedish

Noun

mandarin c

1. mandarin orange
2. (historical) mandarin; a high government bureaucrat of the Chinese Empire.
3. (non-inflectable, not comparable) Mandarin

Declension