Leadership

How to spell leadership

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce leadership

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does leadership mean?

1. nounThe position, quality, or activity of guiding a group, organisation, or country.

Leadership in a sentence

• Strong leadership helped the team recover after a difficult quarter.

• The company credited its success to steady leadership at the top.

Where does leadership come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is built from native English parts, all with deep Germanic roots. The verb 'lead' comes from Old English 'lædan', meaning to guide, conduct, or show the way, which itself goes back to a Proto-Germanic word for journeying or travelling. Adding the agent suffix '-er' gave 'leader', a person who guides others, recorded from the early medieval period. The abstract suffix '-ship', from Old English 'scipe', means a condition, quality, or office, and it is the same ending found in 'friendship' and 'fellowship'. The full compound 'leadership' is comparatively modern, emerging in the early 1800s to name the office or quality of being a leader. Because every piece is a familiar English block, the spelling is regular, though writers occasionally hesitate over whether the double 'e' or the single 'd' belongs where.

How the word is built

• lead (to guide)
• -er (one who does)
• -ship (state or quality of)