mandarining en · NOUN
Etymology
From mandarin + -ing.
Meanings
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(archaic, historical, uncountable) The use of a nitric acid solution to give an orange colour to textiles, such as silk or wool.
1852-1866, Charles Tomlinson, Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts and Manufactures By this method, which is called mandarining, an orange colour is given to silk and wool, not from the solution of a colouring matter, but by producing a certain change in the fibre by the action of dilute nitric acid.