mandarin

mandarin · noun, adjective¹

1. Proto-Indo-European*men-
2. Proto-Indo-Iranian*mántras
3. Sanskritमन्त्र॑ (mántra)
4. Sanskritम॒न्त्रिन् (mantrín)
5. Malaymenteri
6. Portuguesemandarim
7. English todaymandarin

From Portuguese mandarim, mandarij, from Malay menteri, manteri, and its source, Sanskrit मन्त्रिन् (mantrin, “minister, councillor”), from मन्त्र (mantra, “counsel, maxim, mantra”) + -इन् (-in, an agent suffix).

mandarin · noun²

1. French · derived frommandarine
2. English todaymandarin

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

Mandarin · proper noun³

Calque from Chinese 官話／官话 (Guānhuà, “spoken language of the mandarins”). An extension of mandarin (“bureaucrat of the Chinese Empire”) to the language used by the imperial court and sometimes by imperial officials elsewhere. As such, it was adopted as a synonym for Modern Standard Chinese in the 20th century. The term became ambiguous, however, as its use was extended to the various Northern dialects of Chinese.

First known use, by meaning

• from 1580s A high government bureaucrat of the Chinese Empire.
• from 20th c. Pertaining to or reminiscent of mandarins; deliberately superior or complex; esoteric, highbrow, obscurantist.