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Mandarin?
Posted by Bruce Kahl on November 21, 2000
In Reply to: Mandarin? posted by Btd on November 21, 2000
: What is "Mandarin"? Is it the chinese language, a region, a fruit, a style of cooking?
: I started out researching the four food styles (regions) ie: Cantonese, Szechuan,,etc..and "Mandarin" appears everywhere with everthing.
Main Entry: 1man·da·rin
Pronunciation: 'man-d(&-)r&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Portuguese mandarim, from Malay menteri, from Sanskrit mantrin counselor, from mantra counsel -- more at MANTRA
Date: 1589
1 a : a public official in the Chinese Empire of any of nine superior grades b : a pedantic official : BUREAUCRAT c : a person of position and influence often in intellectual or literary circles; especially : an elder and often traditionalist or reactionary member of such a circle
2 capitalized a : a form of spoken Chinese used by the court and the official classes of the Empire b : the group of closely related Chinese dialects that are spoken in about four fifths of the country and have a standard variety centering about Beijing
3 [French mandarine, from Spanish mandarina, probably from mandarín mandarin, from Portuguese mandarim; probably from the color of a mandarin's robes] a : a small spiny orange tree (Citrus reticulata) of southeastern Asia with yellow to reddish orange loose-rinded fruits; also : a derivative of this tree developed in cultivation by artificial selection or hybridization b : the fruit of a mandarin
- man·da·rin·ic /"man-d&-'ri-nik/ adjective
- man·da·rin·ism /'man-d(&-)r&-"ni-z&m/ noun
