mandarinismn.
/ˈmand(ə)rɪnɪz(ə)m/, U.S. /ˈmændərəˌnɪzəm/ 1. The former Chinese mandarin system of government; government or rule by mandarins. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > a or the system of government > systems governed by person or body > [noun] > by mandarins
mandarinism1853
1853 F. Lieber On Civil Liberty vii. 60 The whole Chinese code..under a systematic mandarinism, is pervaded by the principle of [etc.].
1891 Critic (N.Y.) 5 Sept. 115/1 Is China always to be the land of..girl infanticide and sceptical mandarinism?
2. Pedantry, highbrow style; esoteric study; an example of this.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > pedantry > [noun]
scholarism1588
pedantism1592
pedantry1612
scholasticism1797
bluestockingism1812
donnishness1835
donnism1859
pragmaticism1865
usherism1869
pragmatism1895
mandarinism1976
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > pedantry > [noun] > instance of
pedantism1656
pedantry1656
pragmatism1825
pedanticism1897
mandarinism1976
1976 Amer. Speech 1973 48 269 It can never justify..the minute observance of the mandarinisms of edited written English.
1980 Dædalus Spring 63 He [sc. K. Mannheim] found in social science a replacement for the old mandarinism.
1992 Buffalo (N.Y.) News 23 Aug. ii. 7/1 [Gore Vidal's] latest exercise in fictional troublemaking and in-your-face mandarinism.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1853