n. [ Pg. mandarim, from Malay mantrī 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: A powerful government official or bureaucrat, especially one who is pedantic and has a strong sense of his own importance and privelege. [ PJC ]

3. Hence: A member of an influential, powerful or elite group, espcially within artistic or intellectual circles; -- used especially of elder members who are traditionalist or conservative about their specialties. [ PJC ]

5. The form of the Chinese language spoken by members of the Chinese Imperial Court an officials of the empire. [ PJC ]

6. Any of several closely related dialects of the Chinese language spoken by a mojority of the population of China, the standard variety of which is spoken in the region around Beijing. [ PJC ]

7. (Bot.) A small flattish reddish-orange loose-skinned orange, with an easily separable rind. It is thought to be of Chinese origin, and is counted a distinct species (Citrus reticulata formerly Citrus nobilis); called also mandarin orange and tangerine. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The collective body of officials or persons of rank in China. S. W. Williams. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A showy crested Asiatic duck (Aix galericulata, formerly Dendronessa galericulata), often domesticated, and regarded by the Chinese as an emblem of conjugal affection. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Appropriate or peculiar to a mandarin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Dyeing) The process of giving an orange color to goods formed of animal tissue, as silk or wool, not by coloring matter, but by producing a certain change in the fiber by the action of dilute nitric acid. Tomlinson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A government by mandarins (senses 1 or 2); character or spirit of the mandarins{ 2 }. F. Lieder. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A shrub or small tree (Citrus reticulata) 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 Southeast Asia.
Syn. -- mandarin orange tree. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. Same as mandarin{ 7 }. [ 1913 Webster ]