mandarīns

Perhaps via other European languages, ultimately borrowed from Dutch mandarijn or from Portuguese mandarim, both borrowings from Malay menteri, manteri, from Sanskrit मन्त्रिन् (mantrin, “minister, councillor”) (via Hindi), from मन्त्र (mantra, “counsel, maxim, mantra”) and -इन् (-in, “an agent suffix”). The fruit meaning (“tangerine”) apparently derives from the yellow collor of a mandarin's costume.

mandarīns m (1st declension)

1. tangerine, mandarin orange (small citrus tree, Citrus reticulata, with a fruit resembling the orange; also, the fruit of this tree)

   mandarīnu sula ― tangerine juice

   mandarīna miza ― tangerine peel, skin

   mandarīns ir ļoti auglīgs ― the tangerine is a very fruitful (tree)

   tā koka augļi jau zēniem bija pazīstami: tie bija mandarīni ― those tree fruits were already known to the boys: they were tangerines

2. (historical) mandarin (a high government official of the old Chinese Empire)

   ķīniešu ieradumu aizstāvis eiropeiski izglītots Ķīnas mandarīns misters Vū ir savdabīgs un diezgan interesants lugas tēls ― Mister Woo, a defender of Chinese traditions, a Chinese mandarin educated as an European, is a unique and quite interesting character

   mandarīnu valoda ― (standard) Mandarine Chinese (language)

• mandarīnu valoda