Etymograph

English

leader

Leader comes from Middle English ledere ‘an officer or general’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *laidijārī.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laidijārī1‘one who leads’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150lǣdere1‘one who leads’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ledere1‘an officer or general’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1846leader1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English leader
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1846, Julius Charles Hare, On the Comforter's conviction of Righteousness: “Still there are many passages in his [Donne's] writings,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laidijārīWiktionary, English leader‘one who leads’reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150lǣdereWiktionary, English leader‘one who leads’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ledereWiktionary, English leader‘an officer or general’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1846leaderWiktionary, English leader. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1846, Julius Charles Hare, On the Comforter's conviction of Righteousness: “Still there are many passages in his [Donne's] writings,…”

A compound of *laidī + *-ārī + *laid

Proto-West Germanic *laidī

Proto-West Germanic *laid

Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *laidijārī

Today it means

noun Any person who leads or directs.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “leader”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *laidijārī / leader

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