Other forms: leaders
A leader is the person others follow. A natural leader, the party leader, world leaders.
It covers formal office and informal influence alike, and the two do not always sit in the same person. In British newspapers, a leader is the editorial — the paper's own opinion column — which is why leader writer is a job title. In a race, the leader is whoever is in front. Note leadership; and that a leader is also the blank tape at the start of a reel.
1nounleaderThe person others follow.
“The rebels followed their leader deep into the mountains.”
2nounnewspapersA newspaper's own editorial column.
“The newspaper's leader attacked the government's new tax plan.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
leader is one who leads.
Lead plus -er, and every Germanic language builds it the same way — Dutch leider, German Leiter, Swedish ledare. Lead comes from a root meaning to go or travel.
Middle English
ledere
English, today
leader
From Middle English ledere. by surface analysis, lead + -er. Cognate with Scots leader (“leader”), West Frisian lieder (“leader”), Dutch leider (“leader”), German Leiter (“leader, conductor, manager”), Danish leder (“leader, manager”), Swedish ledare (“leader, conductor, director”), Icelandic leiðari (“leader, conductor”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA