Etymology

leading

lead·ing
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Today it means: Providing guidance or direction. Full definition →

Middle English ledinge ← Old English lǣdende ← Proto-West Germanic *laidijandī
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leading · verb, adjective1

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*laidijaną“to lead”
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*laidijandz
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*laidijandī
  4. Old English · inherited fromlǣdende
  5. Middle English · inherited fromledinge
  6. English todayleading

From Middle English ledinge, ledynge, ledand, ledande, ledende, from Old English lǣdende, from Proto-West Germanic *laidijandī, from Proto-Germanic *laidijandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *laidijaną (“to lead”), equivalent to lead + -ing. Compare West Frisian liedend, Dutch leidend, German leitend, Swedish ledande, Icelandic leiðandi.

leading · noun2

  1. Middle English · inherited fromleding
  2. English todayleading

From Middle English leding, ledyng, ledinge, ledunge, equivalent to lead + -ing. Cognate with Dutch leiding (“conduit, leading, guidance, leadership”), German Leitung (“line, conduit, cable”).

leading · noun3

  1. Middle English · inherited fromleedynge
  2. English todayleading

From Middle English leedynge, equivalent to lead (chemical element) + -ing; so named because in metal typesetting (letterpress and hot metal typesetting), pieces of lead (slugs, strips, blocks, etc) were often the mechanical means of producing the gap.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*laidijaną all →

lead

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.