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   mandarin

   /ˈmand(ə)rɪn/

   noun

   • 1. the standard literary and official form of Chinese, spoken by over 730 million people.
   • 2. an official in any of the nine top grades of the former imperial Chinese civil service.
   • ▪ (of clothing) characteristic of a former Chinese mandarin: "a red-buttoned mandarin cap"
   • ▪ a porcelain ornament consisting of a nodding figure in traditional Chinese costume.
   • ▪ porcelain decorated with Chinese figures dressed as mandarins.
   • 3. a powerful official or senior bureaucrat, especially one perceived as reactionary and secretive: "a civil service mandarin"

   Word Origin late 16th century (denoting a Chinese official): from Portuguese mandarim, via Malay from Hindi mantrī ‘counsellor’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. mandarinate noun

   Scrabble Points: 11

   • M

     3

   • A

     1

   • N

     1

   • D

     2

   • A

     1

   • R

     1

   • I

     1

   • N

     1

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