From Proto-Germanic *lethram and PIE *letro- — one of the oldest material words, naming humanity's first processed material.
A material made from the skin of an animal by tanning or a similar process.
From Old English 'leþer' (leather, skin, hide), from Proto-Germanic *leþrą (leather), from PIE *letro- (leather, processed hide). The word is ancient and has meant tanned animal skin since before recorded history. The Celtic languages share a close cognate — Old Irish 'lethar,' Welsh 'lledr,' Breton 'ler' — suggesting the form predates the Germanic-Celtic divergence or was borrowed