mentor

[ men-tawr, -ter ]

/ ˈmɛn tɔr, -tər /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mentor ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a wise and trusted counselor or teacher.

an influential senior sponsor or supporter.

verb (used without object)

to act as a mentor: She spent years mentoring to junior employees.

verb (used with object)

to act as a mentor to: The brash young executive did not wish to be mentored by anyone.

RELATED WORDS

practice

Nearby words

mentoanterior position, menton, mentonnière, mentoplasty, mentoposterior position, mentor, mentoring, mentotransverse position, mentum, menu, menu bar

Origin of mentor

1740–50; after Mentor (< Greek Méntōr)

SYNONYMS FOR mentor

1 adviser, master, guide, preceptor.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mentor ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsmen·tor·ship, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mentorship

Mentorship programs are also beneficial, and service providers should be trained in cultural sensitivity.
How To Help America’s Trafficking Victims In The Long Term|Ima Matul|June 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His mentorship, kindness, and friendship continue to guide and inform my approach to life.
How Oscar de la Renta Made Me a Supermodel|Karlie Kloss|March 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the film, Sting is gifted to Bilbo by Gandalf in a moment of mentorship.
‘The Hobbit’: 19 Changes from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Novel to Peter Jackson’s Movie|Anna Klassen|December 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Let me try and tell him what, under my mentorship, he would mark and see.
Rome in 1860|Edward Dicey

Charley did not put on any mentorship to us, and the more we saw of him the more we liked him.
Johnny Ludlow, Fifth Series|Mrs. Henry Wood

British Dictionary definitions for mentorship (1 of 2)

mentor

/ (ˈmɛntɔː) /

noun

a wise or trusted adviser or guide

verb

to act as a mentor to (someone); train

Derived Formsmentorial, adjective

Word Origin for mentor

C18: from Mentor

British Dictionary definitions for mentorship (2 of 2)

Mentor

/ (ˈmɛntɔː) /

noun

the friend whom Odysseus put in charge of his household when he left for Troy. He was the adviser of the young Telemachus

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mentorship (1 of 2)

mentor

"wise advisor," 1750, from Greek Mentor, friend of Odysseus and adviser of Telemachus (but often actually Athene in disguise) in the "Odyssey," perhaps ultimately meaning "adviser," because the name appears to be an agent noun of mentos "intent, purpose, spirit, passion" from PIE *mon-eyo- (cf. Sanskrit man-tar- "one who thinks," Latin mon-i-tor "one who admonishes"), causative form of root *men- "to think" (see mind (n.)). The general use of the word probably is via later popular romances, in which Mentor played a larger part than he does in Homer.

Word Origin and History for mentorship (1 of 2)

mentor

1888, from mentor (n.). Related: Mentored; mentoring.