means A person who guides, directs, or commands a group, organization, or movement.

from From Old English 'lædan,' meaning 'to lead, guide, or bring,' which is related to a Germanic family of words for 'going' and 'traveling' (a cousin of words like 'load' in its older sense of 'a way' or 'journey'). The original picture is literal: someone showing the road, walking the path so others can follow. 'Leader' — the one who does the leading — is built on this with the familiar '-er' agent ending, and by Middle English it had stepped from the trail into the throne room, the boardroom, and the front of the parade.