means Animal hide that's been tanned and treated so it won't rot, becoming a tough, flexible material used for shoes, bags, jackets, and the like.

from From Old English 'lether,' descending from a Proto-Germanic root that gives us German 'Leder' and Dutch 'leer.' Beyond that, scholars trace it to a possible Proto-Indo-European source also lurking in the Celtic languages — Old Irish 'lethar,' Welsh 'lledr' — which has made some wonder whether the word passed between Celtic and Germanic neighbours long ago. The deeper origin is genuinely murky, but the thing itself is as old as the first hunter who realized a dead beast's skin could outlast the beast.