1. A high public official of imperial China
   "The mandarin's elaborate robes signified his high rank in the imperial court"
    
2. Any high government official or bureaucrat
   "The corporate mandarin issued a memo outlining the new company policies"
    
3. A member of an elite intellectual or cultural group
   "The literary mandarin's critique was highly respected in academic circles"
    
4. A somewhat flat reddish-orange loose skinned citrus of China
   "He packed mandarin oranges in his lunchbox";
   - mandarin orange
    
5. Shrub or small tree having flattened globose fruit with very sweet aromatic pulp and thin yellow-orange to flame-orange rind that is loose and easily removed; native to southeastern Asia
   "The children loved peeling the loose skin from mandarin oranges"; "The mandarin orange tree produced an abundant crop of easy-peeling fruit";
   - mandarin orange, mandarin orange tree, Citrus reticulata

1. The dialect of Chinese spoken in Beijing and adopted as the official language for all of China
   - Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin dialect, Beijing dialect

Derived forms: mandarins

Type of: Chinese, citrus, citrus fruit, citrus tree, elitist, élitist [Brit], functionary, official

Part of: genus Citrus

Encyclopedia: Mandarin, Jacksonville, Florida