mentor

Etymology

First recorded in 1750,^[1][2] or 1616 according to Merriam-Webster.^[3] It is borrowed from French mentor, an appellative use of the name of Ancient Greek Μέντωρ (Méntōr),^[2][4] the friend of Odysseus and adviser of Telemachus in the Odyssey.^[1][4] The general use probably comes through later popular romances, in which Mentor plays a larger part than in Homer.^[1]

The name has the form of an agent noun from the root *men- “to think”, and may have been chosen as meaning “adviser”;^[2][1] compare Latin monitor.^[2][1]

References

1. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
2. [1] [2] [3] [4] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. [1] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. [1] [2] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org