Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Sense: 1
Date: 1700-1800
Language: French
Origin: mandarine, from Spanish mandarina, probably from mandarín ' MANDARIN3'; perhaps because mandarins wore orange-colored clothes.
Sense: 2-3
Date: 1500-1600
Language: Portuguese
Origin: mandarim, from Malay menteri, from Sanskrit mantrin 'adviser', from mantra; MANTRA

mandarin

 noun
     
Related topics: Food, Officials
mandarin [countable]
1DF also mandarin orange a kind of small orange with skin that is easy to remove
2 British EnglishPGO an important government official who people think has too much power:
Civil Service mandarins
3PGO an important government official in the former Chinese empire
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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