Mandarin, the name given by foreigners, derived from the Portuguese, signifying to “command,” to Chinese official functionaries, of which there are some nine orders, distinguished by the buttons on their caps, and they are appointed chiefly for their possession of the requisite qualifications for the office they aspire to.
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Mandalay * Mandeville, Bernard de