Definitions
Small orange citrus fruit; also a Chinese language variety.
Word origin
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).
Used in a sentence
“When mandarins on the court pointed to obscure language in the Constitution to overturn a century of precedent and declare the income tax unconstitutional, Harlan sided with precedent[.]”
“When institutional mandarins such as this eminent pair set out to undermine the traditional basis for remunerating the products of the mind, you might expect a lowly scribe (such as your reviewer) to take umbrage.”
“A mandarin impassivity had descended over Smiley's face. The earlier emotion was quite gone.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Small orange citrus”8 letters
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