/'mændərɪn; `mændərɪn/
n
1 Mandarin [U] official standard spoken language of China （中国的）官话（普通话的旧称）.
2 [C] (formerly) high-ranking government official in China （旧时）中国政府的高级官吏.
3 [C] high-ranking official who behaves and writes in a remote and difficult way 态度冷淡文字艰涩的高级官吏
*Whitehall mandarins, ie top British civil servants 英国政府中因循守旧的官僚
* [attrib 作定语] pages and pages of mandarin prose 长篇累牍的晦涩文章.
4 [C] (also ,mandarin `orange) type of small orange with loose skin 橘子.
5 [C] (also ,mandarin `duck) small (originally Chinese) duck with brightly coloured feathers 鸳鸯（原产中国）.

n[C]
[Sense: 1; Date: 1700-1800; Language: French;Origin: mandarine, from Spanish mandarina, probably from mandarín ' MANDARIN3'; perhaps because mandarins wore orange-colored clothes.]
[Sense: 2-3; Date: 1500-1600; Language: Portuguese;Origin: mandarim, from Malay menteri, from Sanskrit mantrin 'adviser', from mantra; MANTRA]
alsomandarin orange
a kind of small orange with skin that is easy to remove
BrE an important government official who people think has too much power
　Civil Service mandarins
an important government official in the former Chinese empire