mentors

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of mentor.

   The two mentors disagreed about how to advise their shared trainee.

   Volunteer mentors meet with the apprentices once a month.

   Note

   A regular plural with an epic ancestor: the common noun grew from Mentor, the trusted counselor of Odysseus who raised Telemachus while his father fought at Troy. In lowercase it names any wise guide or teacher, and the plural takes the ordinary -s. With a capital, Mentor is still a Greek name, either the character or a given name, so the capital letter separates the person from the role.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of mentor.

   The retired pilot mentors cadets at the regional flight academy.

   Each senior partner mentors a junior associate during the first year.

   Note

   Here the spelling belongs to the verb, which is transitive: someone mentors someone. It pairs with a singular subject (she mentors, the program mentors) and normally wants a direct object, as in mentors cadets or mentors a new hire. The same letters spell the plural noun. When the word follows a single subject and comes before the person being guided, it is the verb.

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