name
mandarin
MAN-duh-rihn
name
1
The official language of China and Taiwan, the most widely spoken variety of Chinese.
"She spent a year in Beijing learning Mandarin."
noun
1
A small, sweet, easy-to-peel citrus fruit, or the tree it grows on.
"He packed a couple of mandarins for a snack."
adj
1
Deliberately complex, formal, or elevated in a way associated with officialdom or scholarly elites.
"The report was written in dense, mandarin bureaucratic language."
How to Use Mandarin
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishMost often means either the main Chinese language or a small orange citrus fruit; less commonly, an adjective for pompous, official-sounding language.
Easily confused with
Common pairings
speak Mandarin
a mandarin orange
mandarin bureaucracy
Word Forms
more mandarin comparative, mandarins plural, most mandarin superlative
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Etymology
Traces back through Portuguese and Malay to Sanskrit mantrin ("counselor, minister"). The word originally referred to Chinese imperial officials, and both the "esoteric official language" sense and the citrus fruit sense (named for the fruit's orange, official-style robes) developed from that.