Mentoring

How to spell mentoring

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce mentoring

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does mentoring mean?

1. verbAdvising and guiding a less experienced person, especially over time at work or in study.

Mentoring in a sentence

• Mentoring junior staff has become part of her weekly routine.

• The company runs a formal mentoring scheme for new graduates.

Where does mentoring come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to a character in Homer's ancient Greek epic the Odyssey. When Odysseus left for the Trojan War, he entrusted the upbringing of his son Telemachus to a loyal friend named Mentor; the goddess Athena often took Mentor's form to offer guidance, which is why the name became attached to the idea of wise counsel. The proper noun passed into modern European languages through the French author Fenelon, whose hugely popular 1699 novel Les Aventures de Telemaque featured Mentor as a central guide. From there 'mentor' entered English in the eighteenth century as a common noun meaning a trusted adviser, and only much later did English turn it into the verb 'to mentor', adding the familiar -ing ending. Because the root is simply the name Mentor plus -ing, the spelling is regular and there is no double consonant to worry about, only the easily slurred ending -or before -ing.

How the word is built

• mentor (trusted adviser, from the proper name Mentor)
• -ing (verb/noun suffix)