mentored

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of mentor.

   The senior nurse mentored every trainee on the ward.

   Over the decade, she had mentored countless aspiring writers.

   Note

   A regular past form: one spelling covers both the simple past (she mentored three trainees) and the participle (she has mentored them; he was mentored). The verb is transitive, so its usual pattern is mentoring someone. Behind it stands the noun for a wise and trusted counselor. That noun shares its spelling with the name of Odysseus's counselor, the man who raised Telemachus while Odysseus fought at Troy.

2. 2
   adjective

   Under the guidance and control of a mentor, an experienced guide or adviser.

   Mentored interns at the firm reported far less anxiety than those left on their own.

   The mentored recruit settled into the team within a few weeks.

   Note

   Placed before a noun (mentored interns, a mentored recruit), the participle names a standing condition rather than an action. It does not take degrees: a person is mentored or not, never more mentored than a colleague. When a by-phrase follows, as in "was mentored by a senior partner," the word is acting as the verb's past participle again.

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