mentor

See also: Mentor

English

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”)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛn.tɔː/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛn.tɔɹ/, /ˈmɛn.tɚ/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈmen.toː/
• (India) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛn.ʈə(ɾ)/, /ˈmɛn.ʈo(ː)(ɾ)/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛn.toə/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛn.to(ː)ɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɛntə(ɹ), -ɛntɔː(ɹ)

Noun

mentor (plural mentors)

1. A wise and trusted counselor or teacher.
   • 2006, Lisa Johnson, Mind Your X's and Y's:

     Many mentors claim that they would work with the vocationers for free because of the sense of satisfaction the interaction provides.

   • 2009, Reif Larsen, The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, Pinguin Books, page 26:

     I thought he was supposed to be my mentor. But, in actuality, what did I know about the often beguiling world of adults?

Derived terms

• e-mentor
• e-mentorship
• mentorship
• mentoress, mentress
• mentrix

Translations

wise and trusted counselor or teacher

• Bulgarian: наставник (bg) m (nastavnik), ментор m (mentor)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 指導者／指导者 (zh) (zhǐdǎozhě), 導師／导师 (zh) (dǎoshī)

• Dutch: mentor m, leidsman (nl) m
• Esperanto: mentoro
• Finnish: ohjaaja (fi), oppi-isä, mentori (fi)
• French: mentor (fr) m
• German: Mentor (de) m, Vertrauensperson (de) f, Vertrauenslehrer m
• Greek: μέντορας (el) m (méntoras)
• Gujarati: શિક્ષક (śikṣak)
• Hebrew: מַנְחֶה (he) m (manẖé), חוֹנֵךְ m (ẖonéch)
• Italian: mentore (it) m, pigmalione (it) m, tutore (it) m
• Japanese: メンター (ja) (mentā)
• Korean: 멘토 (mento)
• Macedonian: у́чител (mk) m (účitel), ме́нтор m (méntor), воспи́тувач m (vospítuvač)
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: ача (ača)

• Portuguese: mentor (pt) m
• Russian: наста́вник (ru) m (nastávnik), ме́нтор (ru) m (méntor)
• Spanish: mentor (es) m or f
• Swedish: mentor (sv) c
• Turkish: hoca (tr) n
• Welsh: mentor

Verb

mentor (third-person singular simple present mentors, present participle mentoring, simple past and past participle mentored)

1. (transitive) To act as someone's mentor.
   • 2008 September 8, Richard Halloran, “Japan’s rapid succession of prime ministers belies its global role”, in Taipei Times‎^[1], Taipai, page 9:

     After him came several deshi, or followers he had mentored.

   • 2016 September 16, Soledad O'Brien, “Soledad O'Brien: We Should Rethink What Mentoring Means”, in Time‎^[2]:

     I want to get people motivated about mentoring students, to help them get excited about staying in school, finding their passion, and starting a career.

Translations

to act as someone's mentor

• Bulgarian: наставлявам (bg) (nastavljavam)
• Finnish: opastaa (fi), ohjata (fi), mentoroida
• German: betreuen (de)
• Serbo-Croatian: mentorirati, mentorisati

Related terms

• mentee

See also

• coach
• nestor
• sponsor

 

Further reading

• Article on the etymology and history of the word “mentor” on languagehat.com

Anagrams

• Morten, meront, termon, Ermont, montre, Merton, Monter, tormen, Termon, metron

Cebuano

Etymology

From English mentor.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: men‧tor

Noun

mentor

1. a mentor; a wise and trusted counselor or teacher

Verb

mentor

1. to act as a mentor

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:mentor.

Danish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Μέντωρ (Méntōr, “Mentor”), a mythological character in the Odyssey.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛntər/, [ˈmɛntˢɐ]

Noun

mentor c (singular definite mentoren, plural indefinite mentorer)

1. mentor

Inflection

Declension of mentor

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	mentor	mentoren	mentorer	mentorerne
genitive	mentors	mentorens	mentorers	mentorernes

Synonyms

• læremester
• vejleder

Further reading

• mentor on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French mentor, from Ancient Greek Μέντωρ (Méntōr).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛn.tɔr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: men‧tor

Noun

mentor m (plural mentors or mentoren, diminutive mentortje n, feminine mentrix)

1. a mentor, wise/grey adviser, tutor etc.

Synonyms

• raadsman m
• leidsman m, gids m

Derived terms

• mentorspan n

Descendants

• → Papiamentu: mèntòr

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Μέντωρ (Méntōr).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɑ̃.tɔʁ/

Noun

mentor m (plural mentors)

1. mentor, guide

Further reading

• “mentor”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• monter
• montre, montré

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Μέντωρ (Méntōr, “Mentor”).

Noun

mentor m (definite singular mentoren, indefinite plural mentorer, definite plural mentorene)

1. a mentor

References

• “mentor” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /mẽˈtoʁ/ [mẽˈtoh]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /mẽˈtoʁ/ [mẽˈtoh]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /mẽˈtoɾ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /mẽˈtoʁ/ [mẽˈtoχ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /mẽˈtoɻ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mẽˈtoɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mẽˈtoɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /mẽˈto.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: men‧tor

Noun

mentor m (plural mentores, feminine mentora, feminine plural mentoras)

1. mentor (a wise and trusted counsellor or teacher)

Related terms

• mente

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French mentor, from Latin mentor.

Noun

mentor m (plural mentori)

1. mentor

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	mentor	mentorul		mentori	mentorii
genitive-dative	mentor	mentorului		mentori	mentorilor
vocative	mentorule			mentorilor

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Μέντωρ (Méntōr, “Mentor”), a mythological character in the Odyssey, whose name, a historical name from Ancient Greece may share the same root as English mind, would mean that mentor ultimately descends from the Proto-Indo-European root *men-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /menˈtoɾ/ [mẽn̪ˈt̪oɾ]
• Rhymes: -oɾ
• Syllabification: men‧tor

Noun

mentor m (plural mentores, feminine mentora, feminine plural mentoras)

1. mentor

Derived terms

• mentoría

 

Further reading

• “mentor”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Swedish

Noun

mentor c

1. A mentor

Declension

Declension of mentor

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	mentor	mentors
	definite	mentorn	mentorns
plural	indefinite	mentorer	mentorers
	definite	mentorerna	mentorernas

Anagrams

• monter

Welsh

Etymology

Borrowed from English mentor.

Noun

mentor m (plural mentoriaid)

1. mentor

Mutation

Mutated forms of mentor

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
mentor	fentor	unchanged	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “mentor”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
• Definition of 'mentor' from the BBC.
• Alternative definition of the source of 'mentor' from Peer Resources.