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leather.

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.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈlɛðə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈlɛðɚ/General-American/ˈleðə/Australia, New-Zealand/ˈlɛðəɾ/Scotland
  1. 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.

    countable · uncountable
  2. A piece of the above used for polishing.

    countable · uncountable
  3. A cricket ball or football.

    colloquial · countable · uncountable
  4. clothing made from the skin of animals, often worn by motorcycle riders.

    countable · plural · uncountable
  5. A good defensive play

    countable · uncountable
    Jones showed good leather to snare that liner.
  6. A punch.

    countable · uncountable
  7. The skin.

    countable · dated · humorous · uncountable
  8. Clipping of fruit leather.

    abbreviation · alt-of · clipping · countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Celtic *letrosbor. Proto-Germanic *leþrą Proto-West Germanic *leþr Old English leþer Middle English lether English leather 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”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Leder (“leather”), West Frisian leare (“leather”), Low German Leder (“leather”), Dutch leder, leer (“leather”), German Leder (“leather”), Danish læder (“leather”), Swedish läder (“leather”), Icelandic leður (“leather”). Compare also English fell (“skin, hide, pelt”), film.

adj/ˈlɛðə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈlɛðɚ/General-American/ˈleðə/Australia, New-Zealand/ˈlɛðəɾ/Scotland
  1. Made of leather.

    not-comparable
  2. Referring to one who wears leather clothing (motorcycle jacket, chaps over 501 jeans, boots), especially as a sign of sadomasochistic homosexuality.

    not-comparable
  3. Referring to an establishment of familial relations through agreed sexual or romantic deviance.

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Celtic *letrosbor. Proto-Germanic *leþrą Proto-West Germanic *leþr Old English leþer Middle English lether English leather 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”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Leder (“leather”), West Frisian leare (“leather”), Low German Leder (“leather”), Dutch leder, leer (“leather”), German Leder (“leather”), Danish læder (“leather”), Swedish läder (“leather”), Icelandic leður (“leather”). Compare also English fell (“skin, hide, pelt”), film.

verb/ˈlɛðə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈlɛðɚ/General-American/ˈleðə/Australia, New-Zealand/ˈlɛðəɾ/Scotland
  1. To cover with leather.

    transitive
  2. To form a leathery surface (on).

    ambitransitive
  3. To strike forcefully.

    transitive
    He leathered the ball all the way down the street.
  4. To spank or beat with a leather belt or strap.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Celtic *letrosbor. Proto-Germanic *leþrą Proto-West Germanic *leþr Old English leþer Middle English lether English leather 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”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Leder (“leather”), West Frisian leare (“leather”), Low German Leder (“leather”), Dutch leder, leer (“leather”), German Leder (“leather”), Danish læder (“leather”), Swedish läder (“leather”), Icelandic leður (“leather”). Compare also English fell (“skin, hide, pelt”), film.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.