Mandarin

Mandarin [Port. mandar =to govern, or from Malay mantri =counselor of state], a high official of imperial China. For each of the nine grades there was a different colored button worn on the dress cap. Mandarin Chinese was the language spoken by the official class and was based on the Beijing dialect. A version of Mandarin Chinese, known as putonghua [common language], is now taught throughout the country, and it is the official national language. A first or second language for roughly half the nation's population, it is widely spoken in native Chinese regions except along the southeastern coast, where the Cantonese, Fukienese, and Shanghai languages (considered by some to be Chinese dialects) are dominant. See Chinese .

man·da·rin¹ / ˈmandərən/ • n. 1. (Mandarin) the standard literary and official form of Chinese based on the Beijing dialect, spoken by over 730 million people: [as adj.] Mandarin Chinese. 2. an official in any of the nine top grades of the former imperial Chinese civil service. ∎  [as adj.] (esp. of clothing) characteristic or supposedly characteristic of such officials: a red-buttoned mandarin cap. ∎  an ornament consisting of a nodding figure in traditional Chinese dress, typically made of porcelain. ∎  porcelain decorated with Chinese figures dressed as mandarins. ∎  a powerful official or senior bureaucrat, esp. one perceived as reactionary and secretive: a civil service mandarin. man·da·rin² (also mandarine , mandarin orange) • n. 1. a small flattish citrus fruit (Citrus reticulata) with a loose skin, esp. a variety with yellow-orange skin. Compare with tangerine. 2. the citrus tree that yields this fruit.