leather

A2 Topic:Materials & Substances

US /ˈlɛðɚ/ UK /ˈlɛðə/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like lever /ð/ vs /v/

Freq #4365

Meanings

1

noun
A strong material made from the treated skin of animals, used for shoes, bags, and clothing.

Her jacket was made of soft black leather.
2

adj
Made of leather.

He wore a pair of brown leather boots.
3

verb
To hit something very hard.

He leathered the ball all the way down the street.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 adj · made of leather. leathern

Word family

Forms leatheredleatheringleathers

Derived forms antileatherleather-coatleather-hardleatherboardleatherboundleatherboyleatherclothleathercrafterleathercraftingleatherdykeleathererleathergirl

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

Etymology

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-. Cognate with West Frisian leare (“leather”), Low German Leder (“leather”), Dutch leder, leer (“leather”), German Leder (“leather”), Danish læder (“leather”), Swedish läder (“leather”), Icelandic leður (“leather”).

lether Middle English leþer Old English *leþr Proto-West Germanic *leþrą Proto-Germanic *ɸlitrom Proto-Celtic *pel- Proto-Indo-European

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Topics

Materials & Substances

External links

# leather

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, adj, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈlɛðɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈlɛðə/
**Frequency rank:** 4365

## Meanings
1. A strong material made from the treated skin of animals, used for shoes, bags, and clothing.
2. Made of leather.
3. To hit something very hard.

## Examples
- Her jacket was made of soft black leather.
- He wore a pair of brown leather boots.
- He leathered the ball all the way down the street.

## Derived Forms
- antileather
- leather-coat
- leather-hard
- leatherboard
- leatherbound
- leatherboy
- leathercloth
- leathercrafter
- leathercrafting
- leatherdyke
- leatherer
- leathergirl

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: lether
- Root: leþer
- Root: *leþr
- Root: *leþrą
- Root: *ɸlitrom
- Root: *pel-

## Etymology
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-. Cognate with West Frisian leare (“leather”), Low German Leder (“leather”), Dutch leder, leer (“leather”), German Leder (“leather”), Danish læder (“leather”), Swedish läder (“leather”), Icelandic leður (“leather”).

## AI Etymology
Leather comes 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-. Cognate with West Frisian leare (“leather”), Low German Leder (“leather”), Dutch leder, leer (“leather”), German Leder (“leather”), Danish læder (“leather”), Swedish läder (“leather”), Icelandic leður (“leather”). The historical line also includes *pel-.

## Topics
- Materials & Substances

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