mentorship

American  

[men-tawr-ship, -ter-] / ˈmɛn tɔr ʃɪp, -tər- /

noun

mentorships plural

1. the position or services of a wise and trusted counselor or senior sponsor, often in a particular field.

   Nearly a hundred graduate students received research training in his laboratory and benefited from his mentorship.

2. a relationship or arrangement with such a counselor or sponsor.

   To develop my writing craft, I’m currently undertaking a mentorship with a well-known fantasy writer.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• mentorships
  plural

Etymology

Origin of mentorship

mentor ( def. ) + -ship ( def. )

Explanation

When someone you trust and admire gives you support, guidance, and advice, that's mentorship. The mentorship of your writing teacher can help you find your authentic voice. A mentor provides mentorship, and both words derive from Mentor, a character in Homer's The Odyssey who Odysseus's friend and a trusted advisor to Telemachus. The person at work who shows you the ropes when you're new provides mentorship, and a basketball veteran who takes a rookie under their wing does too. Mentorship can mean a helpful guidance counselor, a sibling explaining what high school is like, or an expert plumber advising an apprentice.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mentorship mentorships

The aim is to provide mentorship and English practice for the younger participants, and social interaction for the older adults.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026

Captain learned these habits through work in intimacy coordination and under the mentorship of Tonia Sina, among the first professional intimacy coordinators in Hollywood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026

Now without Sonko's mentorship, Faye "has surrounded himself with people who enable him to fully exercise his functions", said Ousmane Sene, director of the Dakar-based research centre WARC.

From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026

A contributing factor is reduced mentorship for early career workers in remote settings, leading firms to hire more experienced staff.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026

“Young women, this is what this mentorship program is about. We will have fun, yes. But we will also discuss some of the distractions and barriers to success and hopefully gain strategies for overcoming them.”

From "Piecing Me Together" by Renée Watson

In 1977, the Fishers launched the Gap Foundation, which provides donations to disaster-relief efforts and supports programs that provide skills to female garment workers and mentorships to young minority workers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026

The camaraderie, networking and mentorships are added opportunities that aren’t guaranteed with paid tuition or with an on-campus presence.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 24, 2023

To get there, she attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and began seeking mentorships designed to bolster young filmmakers.

From New York Times ● Jun. 3, 2023

Tell me about your training, education and/or mentorships.

From Salon ● May 25, 2023

WriteGirl serves about 400 teen girls a year, supporting their writing through workshops and mentorships with professional female writers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2021