Standard Lemma guide

leadership

noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /ˈlidɚʃɪp/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈliːdəʃɪp/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: L IY1 D ER0 SH IH2 P Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The capacity of someone to lead others.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • Wise, determined leadership matters most.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A group of leaders.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The office or status of a leader.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

the activity of leading

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • his leadership inspired the team

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: leading

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: activity

Narrower terms: helm, lead, trend setting

5

noun

Meaning 5

the ability to lead

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he believed that leadership can be taught

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: ability, power

Narrower terms: generalship

6

noun

Meaning 6

the body of people who lead a group

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the national leadership adopted his plan

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: leaders

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: body

Narrower terms: Rome, high command, supreme headquarters

7

noun

Meaning 7

the status of a leader

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • they challenged his leadership of the union

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: status, position

History

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *laidī Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Proto-West Germanic *laid ▲ Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Proto-West Germanic *laidijārī Old English lǣdere Middle English ledere English leader Proto-Germanic *skapjaną Proto-Germanic *-skapiz Proto-West Germanic *-skapi Old English -sċiepe Middle English -schipe English -ship English leadership From leader + -ship.

Across languages

Translations

104 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Amharic: መሪነት (märinät) — capacity to lead
  • Arabic: قِيَادَة (qiyāda) — capacity to lead
  • Armenian: ղեկավարություն (ġekavarutʻyun) — capacity to lead
  • Azerbaijani: rəhbərlik — capacity to lead
  • Azerbaijani: liderlik — capacity to lead
  • Azerbaijani: başçılıq — capacity to lead
  • Belarusian: лі́дарства (lídarstva) — capacity to lead
  • Bulgarian: ли́дерство (líderstvo) — capacity to lead
  • Catalan: lideratge — capacity to lead
  • Chinese Mandarin: 領導能力 /领导能力 (lǐngdǎo nénglì) — capacity to lead
  • Czech: vůdcovství — capacity to lead
  • Danish: førerskab — capacity to lead
  • Dutch: voorzitterschap — capacity to lead
  • Dutch: leiderschap — capacity to lead
  • Esperanto: gvideco — capacity to lead
  • Esperanto: kondukemeco — capacity to lead
  • Finnish: johtajuus — capacity to lead
  • French: autorité — capacity to lead
  • French: charisme — capacity to lead
  • French: leadership — capacity to lead
  • Georgian: წინამძღვრობა (c̣inamʒɣvroba) — capacity to lead
  • Georgian: ლიდერობა (lideroba) — capacity to lead
  • Georgian: ხელმძღვანელობა (xelmʒɣvaneloba) — capacity to lead
  • Georgian: მეთაურობა (metauroba) — capacity to lead
  • German: Führung — capacity to lead
  • German: Leitung — capacity to lead
  • Hungarian: vezetői képesség — capacity to lead
  • Indonesian: kepemimpinan — capacity to lead
  • Italian: leadership — capacity to lead
  • Italian: carisma — capacity to lead
  • Italian: autorità — capacity to lead
  • Japanese: リーダーシップ (rīdāshippu) — capacity to lead
  • Japanese: 指導力 (shidōryoku) — capacity to lead
  • Kazakh: қолбасылық (qolbasylyq) — capacity to lead
  • Kazakh: қолбасшылық (qolbasşylyq) — capacity to lead
  • Kazakh: лидерлік (liderlık) — capacity to lead
  • Korean: 지도력 (jidoryeok) — capacity to lead
  • Korean: 리더십 (rideosip) — capacity to lead
  • Central Kurdish: سەرکردەیی (serkirdeyî) — capacity to lead
  • Kyrgyz: лидерлик (liderlik) — capacity to lead
  • Kyrgyz: лидерчилик (lidercilik) — capacity to lead
  • Kyrgyz: башчылык (başcılık) — capacity to lead
  • Kyrgyz: баштоочулук (baştooculuk) — capacity to lead
  • Macedonian: водство (vodstvo) — capacity to lead
  • Malay: kepimpinan — capacity to lead
  • Māori: hautūtanga — capacity to lead
  • Mongolian: манлайлал (manlajlal) — capacity to lead
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ledelse — capacity to lead
  • Old English: lādtēowdōm — capacity to lead
  • Persian: رهبری (rahbari) — capacity to lead
  • Persian: سروری (sarvari) — capacity to lead
  • Persian: ریاست (riyâsat) — capacity to lead
  • Polish: przywództwo — capacity to lead
  • Portuguese: liderança — capacity to lead
  • Russian: ли́дерство (líderstvo) — capacity to lead
  • Serbo-Croatian: во̀дство — capacity to lead
  • Serbo-Croatian: vòdstvo — capacity to lead
  • Slovak: vodcovstvo — capacity to lead
  • Slovene: vodstvo — capacity to lead
  • Spanish: liderazgo — capacity to lead
  • Spanish: liderato — capacity to lead
  • Swahili: uongozi — capacity to lead
  • Swedish: ledarskap — capacity to lead
  • Tajik: роҳбарӣ (rohbari) — capacity to lead
  • Tajik: сарварӣ (sarvari) — capacity to lead
  • Tajik: раёсат (rayosat) — capacity to lead
  • Telugu: నాయకత్వం (nāyakatvaṁ) — capacity to lead
  • Thai: ความเป็นผู้นํา (kwaam-bpen-pûu-nam) — capacity to lead
  • Turkish: liderlik — capacity to lead
  • Ukrainian: лі́дерство (líderstvo) — capacity to lead
  • Uyghur: رەھبەرلىك (rehberlik) — capacity to lead
  • Uzbek: liderlik — capacity to lead
  • Uzbek: rahbarlik — capacity to lead
  • Vietnamese: khả năng lãnh đạo — capacity to lead
  • Welsh: arweiniad — capacity to lead
  • Belarusian: кіраўні́цтва (kirawníctva) — group of leaders
  • Bulgarian: ръково́дство (rǎkovódstvo) — group of leaders
  • Catalan: direcció — group of leaders
  • Catalan: comandament — group of leaders
  • Italian: direzione — group of leaders
  • Macedonian: раководство (rakovodstvo) — group of leaders
  • Malayalam: നേതൃത്വം (nētr̥tvaṁ) — group of leaders
  • Polish: kierownictwo — group of leaders
  • Russian: руково́дство (rukovódstvo) — group of leaders
  • Spanish: jefatura — group of leaders
  • Spanish: directiva — group of leaders
  • Ukrainian: керівни́цтво (kerivnýctvo) — group of leaders
  • Basque: buruzagitza — office of leader
  • Basque: buzagitza — office of leader
  • Catalan: direcció — office of leader
  • Catalan: prefectura — office of leader
  • Dutch: voorzitterschap — office of leader
  • Esperanto: komando — office of leader
  • Finnish: johto — office of leader
  • French: direction — office of leader
  • Galician: xefatura — office of leader
  • Georgian: ხელმძღვანელობა (xelmʒɣvaneloba) — office of leader
  • Hebrew: רָאשׁוּת — office of leader
  • Latin: ductus — office of leader
  • Macedonian: раководство (rakovodstvo) — office of leader
  • Polish: przywództwo — office of leader
  • Russian: руково́дство (rukovódstvo) — office of leader
  • Spanish: jefatura — office of leader
  • Ukrainian: керівни́цтво (kerivnýctvo) — office of leader
Real reading context

leadership in complete knowledge articles