Noun
After college, her professor became her close friend and mentor.
He needed a mentor to teach him about the world of politics.
We volunteer as mentors to disadvantaged children.
young boys in need of mentorsVerb
The young intern was mentored by the country's top heart surgeon.
Our program focuses on mentoring teenagers.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
More than a decade his senior, Wade was also a mentor to his cousin Nayvadius Cash, who later became known as hip-hop star Future.—Spin Staff, SPIN, 13 Apr. 2024 Millin is impressed and tells her mentor after surgery.—Lincee Ray, EW.com, 12 Apr. 2024 His journey, initiated by a mentor’s advice in 2007, has been a testament to the power of persistence, client-centric service, and community involvement.—William Mullane, USA TODAY, 12 Apr. 2024 But her mentor had a point: Her accomplishments up until that point had been decidedly scattershot.—Louis Lucero Ii, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2024 The country singer, who appeared on the reality competition series as a guest mentor, shared an emotional moment with Mia Matthews during their session.—Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 10 Apr. 2024 But being a mentor has its downside because eventually the student replaces the teacher.—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024 Brent Smith from Shinedown and Eric Church and Kid Rock are mentors at times.—Fred Bronson, Billboard, 5 Apr. 2024 And this is why Film AlUla, the Royal Commission for AlUla’s film agency, has just announced that Italian-Japanese artistic and creative director Nicola Formichetti is its new costume mentor for its AlUla Creates initiative.—Allyson Portee, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Apr. 2024
Verb
Lee, who lives in Upper Marlboro, learned about the reentry reimbursement program while mentoring youths released on probation in D.C.—Jasmine Hilton, Washington Post, 13 Apr. 2024 Downtown Boxing Gym is a nonprofit that has supported Detroit youth ages 8-18 through athletics as well as academic and mentoring support for nearly 17 years.—Detroit Free Press, 11 Apr. 2024 Launched by fashion veteran turned philanthropist Tania Fares last year, Fashion Trust U.S. is a non-profit focused on finding, funding and mentoring new design talent.—Lindzi Scharf, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Apr. 2024 In the agricultural community of Immokalee, Florida, known for its large migrant worker population, a 40-year-old tutoring and mentoring program has made big strides in promoting higher education as a path to prosperity — and helping students prepare, apply and be able to afford college.—Fredlyn Pierre Louis, NBC News, 9 Apr. 2024 Jerry Manuel, the former major league infielder and manager, now coaches and mentors a new generation of Black ballplayers through his Jerry Manuel Foundation youth baseball charter school.—Darrell Smith, Sacramento Bee, 5 Apr. 2024 These types of events are often attended by industry leaders looking to give back by mentoring the next generation.
6.—Angela Quach, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024 At the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, Film AlUla announced Katie Holmes would mentor female Saudi filmmakers.—Allyson Portee, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Apr. 2024 The film market at CIFF built a solid foundation as an intimate yet professional networking and mentoring platform.—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 2 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mentor.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun
as name borrowed from Latin Mentōr, borrowed from Greek Méntōr; as generic noun borrowed from French mentor, after Mentor, character in the novel Les aventures de Télémaque (1699) by the French cleric and writer François Fénelon (1651-1715), based on characters in the Odyssey
Note:
In Fénelon's work Mentor is a principal character, and his speeches and advice to Telemachus during their travels constitute much of the book's substance.
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