US /ˈmɛn.toɹ/ UK /ˈmɛn.tɔː/
noun verb name Freq #7573

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    An experienced person who gives advice and guidance to someone less experienced.

    I've been lucky to have several great mentors in my career.

  2. 2
    verb

    To advise and guide someone with less experience.

    The senior professor mentored me throughout university.

Thesaurus

Word family
Forms mentoredmentoringmentors

Etymology

From French mentor, from Ancient Greek Μέντωρ (Méntōr, “Mentor”), a mythological character in the Odyssey, whose name, a historical name from Ancient Greece, shares the same root as English mind. Cognate to Sanskrit मन्तृ (mantṛ, “advisor, counselor”) and Latin monitor (“one who admonishes”), and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *monéyeti (compare Latin moneō (“to warn”), causative form of *men- (“to think”).

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Topics

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