English
leader
Leader comes from Middle English ledere ‘an officer or general’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *laidijārī.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laidijārī‘one who leads’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lǣdere‘one who leads’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ledere‘an officer or general’
- Englishearliest quotation 1846leader
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laidijārī‘one who leads’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lǣdere‘one who leads’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ledere‘an officer or general’
- Englishearliest quotation 1846leader
Earliest quotation: 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.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *laidijārī / leader