<p><strong>Noun:</strong></p><ul><li>(in the Chinese Empire) a member of any of the nine ranks of public officials, each distinguished by a particular kind of button worn on the cap</li><li>(initial capital letter) the standard Chinese language</li><li>(initial capital letter) a northern Chinese dialect, especially as spoken in and around Beijing</li><li>a small, spiny citrus tree, <em>Citrus reticulata</em>, native to China, bearing lance-shaped leaves and flattish, orange-yellow to deep-orange loose-skinned fruit, some varieties of which are called tangerines</li><li>any of several plants belonging to the genus <em>Disporum</em> or <em>Streptopus</em>, of the lily family, as <em>S. roseus</em> (rose mandarin) or <em>D. lanuginosum</em> (yellow mandarin), having drooping flowers and red berries</li><li>an influential or powerful government official or bureaucrat</li><li>a member of an elite or powerful group or class, as in intellectual or cultural milieus: the mandarins of the art world</li></ul><p><strong>Adjective:</strong></p><ul><li>of or relating to a mandarin or mandarins</li><li>elegantly refined, as in language or taste</li></ul>