mandarine

Forms

mandarine f (plural mandarines)^[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine adjective mandarine used as a noun, from French mandarin (“of the mandarins”): the fruit was first an orange called mandarine.^[2][3][4][5] The sources give two reasons for the name: the colour of the fruit recalled the robes of the mandarins, which were usually yellow,^[2][4][3] or the fruit was seen as a choice kind of orange, fit for mandarins.^[3][6] Since the fruit came from eastern Asia and had spread to Egypt and to Mauritius (then French) before it reached Europe, the name must have existed in Asia before it was known in France.^[2][4][3]

The Grand Robert and the Petit Robert instead take the word from Spanish mandarina (“(orange) of the mandarins”).^[7][8] The noun mandarin itself is mandarim, an alteration after mandar (“to order”) of Malay mantari, which Bloch and Wartburg trace to a Sanskrit word for a state counsellor.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1773, in Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's Voyage à l'Île de France, for the fruit of the mandarin tree.^[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

The word spread in French only in the 19th century: Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1836, noting the isolated record of 1773.^[4] Littré still described the fruit as a kind of orange that had first reached France from Malta.^[9] The tree was named mandarinier by 1867.^[2][3]

In the 20th century the noun became a colour word: Colette used it as an adjective for an orange colour in 1902,^[2][10] and it is also used as a masculine noun for the colour.^[10] Military slang used it for a hand grenade.^[10]

Timeline

• 1773 – Bernardin de Saint-Pierre names the fruit in his Voyage à l'Île de France.^[2][3]
• 1836 – The word comes into general use, according to Bloch and Wartburg.^[4]
• 1867 – Littré records the tree name mandarinier.^[2][3]
• 1902 – Colette uses it as an adjective of colour.^[2][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A mandarin orange, the small, sweet and fragrant citrus fruit of the mandarinier, with a peel that comes off easily.^[8][2]
2. A light orange colour.^[10][11]
3. (military slang) A hand grenade.^[10]

Adjective

1. Of a light orange colour (invariable): des gants mandarine.^[8][2]

Word family

• mandarinier

Related words

• mandarin
• mandarinat
• orange

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 20, 104b
6. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d e f Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
11. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org