From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
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]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
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]