英文Mandarin（中國國語／官話／普通話／華語）源自葡文Mandarim ，而葡文Mandarim 源自馬來文menteri（朝臣、部長），而馬來文menteri又源自梵文mantrin（部長）。其傳播軌跡和China一樣，都是梵文 → 馬來文 → 葡文 → 英文（請過目另一拙文〈China源自梵文Cina〉）。箇中來龍去脈究竟如何？
馬來文menteri源自梵文mantrin，意指朝臣、部長（已求證於馬來西亞朋友）。十六世紀初，在滿剌加國（今馬六甲）的葡萄牙人想晉見出使當地的明國官員，遂借用馬來語menteri指稱中國官員。因葡人不諳馬來語，便訛為Mandarim。由此可見，Mandarin絕非甚麼「滿大人」的音譯，當時滿洲人尚未入關，中原還是大明的天下，而且當時滿洲族仍稱女真族，滿洲族之名是皇太極改後金國號為清時一併改的。
The English language Mandarin is derived from the Portuguese Mandarim, which is derived from the Malay menteri (courtier, minister), which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit mantrin (minister). The transmission trajectory is the same as that of China, Sanskrit → Malay → Portuguese → English (please see another article (China from Sanskrit Cina)). What is the origin?
The Malay word menteri is derived from the Sanskrit word mantrin, which means courtier or minister (as verified by our Malaysian friends). In the early sixteenth century, the Portuguese in Manchuria (now Malacca) wanted to meet the Ming officials who were on mission there, so they used the Malay word menteri to refer to Chinese officials. It is clear that Mandarin was not a translation of "Manchu", as the Manchurians had not yet entered the country and the Middle Kingdom was still under the rule of the Ming Dynasty, and the Manchurians were still known as the Nüjin.
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