mentor French · revision 15742

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=eponym|attested=1739, Lesage, Le Bachelier de Salamanque|origins=grc Μέντωρ}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɑ̃.tɔʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /mɛ̃.tɔʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mentor''' ''m'' (plural mentors)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the use as a common noun of Mentor, the French form of [[grc|Μέντωρ|tr=Méntōr]], the friend of Odysseus in the “Odyssey” whose likeness Athena took to guide and teach Telemachus.^(TLF-Étym)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|6/1, 752b) The name, found in French from the 16th century, was made famous by Fénelon's “Aventures de Télémaque” (1699), where Minerva in Mentor's form is the young prince's tutor.^(TLF-Étym)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The revised TLF dates it from Lesage's ''Bachelier de Salamanque'' (1739), where the hero is to be regarded “as a Mentor” to the young man in his charge;^(TLF-Étym) the older TLFi date is 1749 (Montesquieu), and Bloch and Wartburg and the Grand Robert cite Saint-Simon early in the century.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A ''mentor'' is a wise, experienced adviser, and especially the person who guides a young man's upbringing or travels, as the abbé Prévost's dictionary defines it in 1755.^(TLF-Étym)^(DHLF 1992) Rousseau used it figuratively of a book (about 1770).^(GLLF 1989) The word is literary, and it has been officially recommended in place of the anglicism ''coach''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+

+ The old pronunciation with ''men-'', given by the Académie in 1835, was already rejected by Littré; it is now said like ''main-''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 16th century – The name Mentor in French.^(TLF-Étym)

+ * 1699 – Fénelon's ''Télémaque''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLF-Étym)

+ * 1739 – ''Comme un Mentor'' (Lesage).^(TLF-Étym)

+ * 1749 – A common noun (Montesquieu).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1755 – First recorded in a dictionary (Prévost).^(TLF-Étym)

+ * 1762 – First recorded by the Académie.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(literary)'' A [[m|en|mentor]], a wise and experienced [[m|en|adviser]] or guide: ''servir de mentor à quelqu'un''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|mentor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}