mandarin means standard Mandarin, an official language of China and Taiwan, and one of four official languages in Singapore; Putonghua, Guoyu or Huayu. It carries an Arena rating of 1555, earned across 6 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, mandarin ranks #803 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #2,028 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #6,236 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #6,823 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
mandarin is pronounced /ˈmæn.də.ɹɪn/.
Why “mandarin” is a great word
A deliberately superior, complex, or esoteric language or style, historically rooted in the high-ranking bureaucrats of imperial China. From Portuguese *mandarim* (Chinese official), from Malay *menteri* (minister, official), from Sanskrit *mantrin* (counselor), the term was extended via calque from Chinese 官話 (Guānhuà, "spoken language of the mandarins") to name the language used by the imperial court, later adopted as a synonym for Modern Standard Chinese in the 20th century. Unlike a mere "bureaucrat" (a functional administrator) or something purely "esoteric" (secret knowledge for initiates), "mandarin" implies a complexity worn as a badge of office, a cultivated difficulty that enforces social distance. It is the convoluted syntax of an imperial edict, the ornate buttons on a silken hat denoting rank, and the arcane jargon of a modern academic clique—language not as a bridge, but as a barrier, polished over centuries into cold, untouchable elegance.
Etymology
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.
name
- Standard Mandarin, an official language of China and Taiwan, and one of four official languages in Singapore; Putonghua, Guoyu or Huayu.
- A branch of the Chinese languages, consisting of many dialects; Guanhua or Beifanghua.
adj
- Pertaining to or reminiscent of mandarins; deliberately superior or complex; esoteric, highbrow, obscurantist.e.g.“A mandarin impassivity had descended over Smiley's face. The earlier emotion was quite gone.” — 1979, John Le Carré, Smiley's People, Folio Society, published 2010, page 58:
noun
- A high government bureaucrat of the Chinese Empire.
- A pedantic or elitist bureaucrat.
- A pedantic senior person of influence in academia or literary circles.
- A senior civil servant.
- A figurine of a Chinese person with movable head that was popular in the 1950s. (Cf. bobblehead.)
- Ellipsis of mandarin orange:; A small, sweet citrus fruit.
- Ellipsis of mandarin orange:; A tree of the species Citrus reticulata.
- An orange colour.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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