War, law & rule

mandarin

Sanskrit mantrin 'counsellor' passed into Malay as menteri 'minister'; the Portuguese turned it into mandarim, as if from mandar 'to command', and used it for Chinese officials. French named the orange after them, while mantrī lives on for ministers in Hindi, Thai, Malay and Indonesian.

Weakest linkProbable

The road to English

From Sanskrit to Hindi

From Sanskrit to Thai

From Malay to Indonesian

From Portuguese to French, French

From French to German

From French to Russian

From Portuguese to Spanish

800 BCESanskrit

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

mandarin

Weakest linkProbable

The road to English

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