leather

/ˈlɛðə/

//ˈlɛðə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"leather" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“leather” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,957. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,957
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
14
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - 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.

Corpus desk

Index EN-leather · leather · English

leather · rank #3,957 · 10 variants · 14 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,957
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 14 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH knock

Nearest frequency peer: knock (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “leather”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “leather” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

leather vs letter
71% similar
leather vs Luther
57% similar
leather vs Lester
57% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for leather
PropertyValue
Headwordleather
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈlɛðə/
Letters7
Frequency rank#3,957
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs14
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “leather”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).leatherlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “knock” (#3,956), “lips” (#3,958), “Josh” (#3,955). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “leather” is #3,957. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around leather (IPA /ˈlɛðə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,957 among 2,297 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for leather, with forms such as "elather", "laether", and "leahter". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 14 confusable-pair relationships, "letter", "Luther", "Lester", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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… The correct English form is leather, spelled L-E-A-T-H-E-R.

Definition

  1. 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.
  2. 2
    A piece of the above used for polishing.
  3. 3
    A cricket ball or football.
  4. 4
    clothing made from the skin of animals, often worn by motorcycle riders.
  5. 5
    A good defensive play
  6. 6
    A punch.
  7. 7
    The skin.
  8. 8
    Clipping of fruit leather.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how leather appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The goalee made a frantic grab as the leather spun clean past him, but he was just a second too late, and Joe had scored for Redcliff.
  2. Jones showed good leather to snare that liner.

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”).

This word in other languages

cuero(Español)cuir(Français)Leder(Deutsch)couro(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • elather
  • laether
  • leahter
  • leatehr
  • leatherr
  • leathher
  • leathre
  • leatther
  • letaher
  • lleather

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of leather - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

elather2laether2leahter2leatehr2leatherr1leathher1leathre2leatther1
Edit distance from "leather"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "leather"?
"leather" is spelled L-E-A-T-H-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈlɛðə/.
What does "leather" mean?
As a noun, "leather" means: 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.
What words are commonly confused with "leather"?
"leather" is commonly confused with "letter", "Luther", "Lester". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "leather"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "leather" is /ˈlɛðə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "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-. Cognate with West Fri... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "leather", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

masters#3,962outcome#3,967painted#3,968pulling#3,971

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

lyrics10 variantsremoval10 variantsDetroit10 variantsChelsea10 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list