# mandarin

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈmæn.də.ɹɪn/ · frequency rank #14,583

## Definitions
1. A high government bureaucrat of the Chinese Empire.
2. A pedantic or elitist bureaucrat.
3. A pedantic senior person of influence in academia or literary circles.
4. Ellipsis of mandarin duck.
5. A senior civil servant.
6. A figurine of a Chinese person with movable head that was popular in the 1950s. (Cf. bobblehead.)

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *men-
Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr
Proto-Indo-European *-trom
Proto-Indo-Iranian *mántras
Sanskrit मन्त्र॑ (mántra)
Proto-Indo-Iranian *-in-
Sanskrit -इन् (-in)
Sanskrit म॒न्त्रिन् (mantrín)bor.
Malay menteribor.
Portuguese mandarimbor.
English mandarin
From Portuguese mandarim, mandarij, from Malay menteri, manteri, and its source, Sanskrit मन्त्रिन् (mantrin, “minister, councillor”), from मन्त्र (mantra, “counsel, maxim, mantra”) + -इन् (-in, an agent suffix).

## Easily confused with
- **mandolin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/mandarin-vs-mandolin)

## Common misspellings (12)
`amndarin`, `madnarin`, `manadrin`, `mandairn`, `mandarinn`, `mandarni`, `mandarrin`, `manddarin`, `mandrain`, `manndarin`, `mmandarin`, `mnadarin`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/mandarin