See also: mandarins and Mandarins

Latvian edit

 
Mandarīns (1)
 
Mandarīns (2)

Etymology edit

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.

Pronunciation edit

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Noun edit

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 sulatangerine juice
    mandarīna mizatangerine peel, skin
    mandarīns ir ļoti auglīgsthe tangerine is a very fruitful (tree)
    tā koka augļi jau zēniem bija pazīstami: tie bija mandarīnithose 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 tēlsMister Woo, a defender of Chinese traditions, a Chinese mandarin educated as a European, is a unique and quite interesting character
    mandarīnu valoda(standard) Mandarine Chinese (language)

Declension edit

Derived terms edit