mandarin

IPA/ˈmæn.dər.ɪn/
KK[mˈændɚən]IPA/ˈmæn.dɚ.ɪn/

mandarin — noun

  • mandarinsingular
  • mandarinsplural

1. a small citrus fruit, usually sweeter than many oranges, with thin skin that is

1.nounB1
Definition

a small citrus fruit, usually sweeter than many oranges, with thin skin that is easy to remove, or the tree that bears it

Example

Tomás packed two mandarins in his lunch box for the ferry ride.

pack mandarins in a lunch box

A bowl of mandarins brightened the kitchen table during Lunar New Year.

Common collocations
  • peel a mandarin
  • a bowl of mandarins
  • mandarin tree
  • mandarin segments
Synonyms
  • mandarin orange

    a fuller name that makes the citrus sense completely explicit

  • tangerine

    often names a deeper-orange, easy-peeling type within the mandarin group

  • clementine

    usually a very sweet, often seedless variety sold as a type of mandarin

Grammar Patterns

peel a mandarin

a bowl of mandarins

mandarin tree

Usage Note

In everyday English this usually names the fruit. If you want to make the plant clear, speakers often say mandarin tree.

Common Mistakes

I bought mandarin for breakfast.
I bought mandarins for breakfast.
when you mean the fruit pieces themselves, English usually treats this sense as a countable noun.

2. the standard variety of Chinese used as an official language in China and also w

2.nounB1
Definition

the standard variety of Chinese used as an official language in China and also widely used in Singapore

Example

Anjali started learning Mandarin after her company opened a Shanghai office.

learn Mandarin

The station announcements switched from English to Mandarin before the train left.

switch from English to Mandarin

Common collocations
  • learn Mandarin
  • speak Mandarin
  • Mandarin class
  • Mandarin speaker
Synonyms
  • Standard Chinese

    a more explanatory term often used in formal description

  • Putonghua

    the mainland Chinese name for the standard language

  • Guoyu

    a name used in Taiwan for the standard form of Chinese

Grammar Patterns

learn Mandarin

speak Mandarin

Mandarin class

Usage Note

This sense usually means the standard spoken form used in schools, media, and official settings, not every Chinese variety such as Cantonese or Hokkien.

Common Mistakes

My grandmother speaks Mandarin dialect.
My grandmother speaks Mandarin.
Mandarin is already the language name, so dialect is usually unnecessary here.

3. a senior state official, especially one in imperial China or in a powerful burea

3.nounC1
Definition

a senior state official, especially one in imperial China or in a powerful bureaucracy

Example

Court mandarins argued over tax rules before the emperor arrived.

court mandarins

The memo was written for senior mandarins in the finance ministry.

senior mandarins in

Common collocations
  • senior mandarins
  • party mandarins
  • civil service mandarins
Synonyms
  • bureaucrat

    a broader word for an official working within a large administrative system

  • official

    a neutral general term without the same historical or critical tone

  • functionary

    more formal and often suggests a narrow, procedural role

Grammar Patterns

senior mandarins

party mandarins

civil service mandarins

Usage Note

Often used critically in modern English for officials seen as remote or overly powerful, not just as a neutral historical title.

Common Mistakes

The office hired a mandarin yesterday.
The office hired a civil servant yesterday.
mandarin suggests a very senior or influential official, not any government worker.

4. a respected and influential figure in the arts, writing, or other intellectual l

4.nounC2
Definition

a respected and influential figure in the arts, writing, or other intellectual life

Example

Newspaper mandarins dismissed the young poet before her first book sold.

newspaper mandarins

The festival invited several literary mandarins to judge the final prize.

literary mandarins

Common collocations
  • literary mandarins
  • art mandarins
  • a mandarin of criticism
Synonyms
  • arbiter

    stresses the power to judge what counts as good or important

  • gatekeeper

    highlights control over who gets access or recognition

  • tastemaker

    focuses more on shaping public preference and fashion

Grammar Patterns

literary mandarins

art mandarins

a mandarin of criticism

Usage Note

Usually appears in journalism or criticism. It often suggests a gatekeeper who helps decide whose work gets attention.

Common Mistakes

She is a mandarin teacher in the city library.
She is a cultural mandarin in the theatre world.
this sense means an influential figure, not a language teacher.

mandarin — adjective

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Mandarin is the broad everyday word for the small, easy-peeling citrus group. Tangerine often suggests a deeper orange color and is common on North American food labels, but many speakers still use it loosely. Clementine usually names a very sweet, often seedless variety that is popular in lunch boxes. Satsuma often refers to a softer-skinned Japanese variety that comes away from the segments very easily. In casual shopping talk, people may say mandarin even when the fruit is technically a clementine or satsuma. You might ask for a bag of mandarins at the market, then later say the seedless ones were clementines.

mandarin ↗tangerine ↗clementine ↗satsuma

Etymology

SanskritMalayPortugueseEnglish

English took mandarin from Portuguese mandarim, a word used for Chinese officials. Portuguese probably got it through Malay menteri, which goes back to Sanskrit mantrin, meaning 'counsellor'. The language sense grew from the speech linked with those officials, and the fruit sense later became associated with China and the orange traded from there.

First known use

1589

1589, in the meaning defined at sense 1a Adjective