Etymograph

English

leather

Leather comes from Middle English lether, from Old English leþer, from Proto-Germanic *leþrą ‘leather’, possibly borrowed from Proto-Celtic *ɸlitrom.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥tro-1‘skin, hide’uncertain
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*ɸlitrom1uncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*leþrą1‘leather’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*leþr1reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150leþer1‘leather’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lether1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1806leather1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English leather
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1806, Andrew Kippis: “My father was very angry with me— -he took…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pl̥tro-Wiktionary, English leather‘skin, hide’uncertain
  2. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*ɸlitromWiktionary, English leatheruncertain
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*leþrąWiktionary, English leather‘leather’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*leþrWiktionary, English leatherreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150leþerWiktionary, English leather‘leather’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500letherWiktionary, English leather
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1806leatherWiktionary, English leather. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1806, Andrew Kippis: “My father was very angry with me— -he took…”

The story

From Middle English lether, from Old English leþer (‘leather’), from Proto-West Germanic *leþr, from Proto-Germanic *leþrą (‘leather’), possibly borrowed from Proto-Celtic *ɸlitrom, *letros, from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥tro- (‘skin, hide’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥tro-

Today it means

noun A tough material produced from the skin of animals, by tanning or similar process, used e.g. for clothing; often denotes leather from cattle when no qualifier specifies otherwise.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “leather”. 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-Indo-European *pl̥tro- / leather

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