mandarin

mandarin
    n 1: 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 [syn: {mandarin}, {mandarin orange},
         {mandarin orange tree}, {Citrus reticulata}]
    2: a member of an elite intellectual or cultural group
    3: any high government official or bureaucrat
    4: a high public official of imperial China
    5: a somewhat flat reddish-orange loose skinned citrus of China
       [syn: {mandarin}, {mandarin orange}]
    6: the dialect of Chinese spoken in Beijing and adopted as the
       official language for all of China [syn: {Mandarin},
       {Mandarin Chinese}, {Mandarin dialect}, {Beijing dialect}]
    

Mandarin \Man`da*rin"\, n. [Pg. mandarim, from Malay mantr[imac]
   minister of state, prop. a Hind. word, fr. Skr. mantrin a
   counselor, manira a counsel, man to think.]
   1. A Chinese public officer or nobleman; a civil or military
      official in China and Annam.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Hence: A powerful government official or bureaucrat,
      especially one who is pedantic and has a strong sense of
      his own importance and privelege.
      [PJC]

   3. Hence: A member of an influential, powerful or elite
      group, espcially within artistic or intellectual circles;
      -- used especially of elder members who are traditionalist
      or conservative about their specialties.
      [PJC]

   5. The form of the Chinese language spoken by members of the
      Chinese Imperial Court an officials of the empire.
      [PJC]

   6. Any of several closely related dialects of the Chinese
      language spoken by a mojority of the population of China,
      the standard variety of which is spoken in the region
      around Beijing.
      [PJC]

   7. (Bot.) A small flattish reddish-orange loose-skinned
      orange, with an easily separable rind. It is thought to be
      of Chinese origin, and is counted a distinct species
      ({Citrus reticulata} formerly {Citrus nobilis}); called
      also {mandarin orange} and {tangerine}.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Mandarin language}, the spoken or colloquial language of
      educated people in China.

   {Mandarin yellow} (Chem.), an artificial aniline dyestuff
      used for coloring silk and wool, and regarded as a complex
      derivative of quinoline.
      [1913 Webster]
    

56 Moby Thesaurus words for "mandarin":
      Brahmin, authority, brainworker, bureaucrat, civil servant, doctor,
      egghead, elder, elder statesman, elitist, functionary,
      functionnaire, great soul, guru, highbrow, illuminate, intellect,
      intellectual, intellectualist, jack-in-office, literate,
      lover of wisdom, mahatma, man of intellect, man of wisdom, master,
      mastermind, mentor, name-dropper, office-bearer, officeholder,
      officer, official, officiary, oracle, petty tyrant, philosopher,
      placeman, prig, public official, public servant, rabbi, red-tapist,
      rishi, sage, sapient, savant, scholar, seer, snob, starets,
      thinker, tufthunter, white-collar intellectual, wise man,
      wise old man