leading

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English

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English ledinge, ledynge, ledand, ledande, ledende, from Old English lǣdende, from Proto-West Germanic *laidijandī, from Proto-Germanic *laidijandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *laidijaną (“to lead”), equivalent to lead +‎ -ing. Compare West Frisian liedend, Dutch leidend, German leitend, Swedish ledande, Icelandic leiðandi.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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leading

  1. present participle and gerund of lead

Adjective

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leading (not comparable)

  1. Providing guidance or direction.
    Avoid leading questions if you really want the truth.
  2. Ranking first.
    He is a leading supplier of plumbing supplies in the county.
  3. Occurring in advance; preceding.
    Antonyms: following, lagging, trailing
    The stock market can be a leading economic indicator.
Coordinate terms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Middle English leding, ledyng, ledinge, ledunge, equivalent to lead +‎ -ing. Cognate with Dutch leiding (“conduit, leading, guidance, leadership”), German Leitung (“line, conduit, cable”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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leading (plural leadings)

  1. An act by which one is led or guided.
    • 1792, William Carey, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the‎[1]:
      It has been said that we ought not to force our way, but to wait for the openings, and leadings of Providence; but it might with equal propriety be answered in this case, neither ought we to neglect embracing those openings in providence which daily present themselves to us.
    • 1892, Walt Whitman, “A Song for Occupations”, in Leaves of Grass […], Philadelphia, Pa.: David McKay, publisher, […], →OCLC, stanza 5, page 175:
      I do not affirm that what you see beyond is futile, I do not advise you to stop, / I do not say leadings you thought great are not great, / But I say that none lead to greater than these lead to.
    • 1904, Edward Dowden, Robert Browning‎[2]:
      In his poetic method each writer followed the leadings of his own genius, without reference to common rules and standards; the individualism of the Revolutionary epoch asserted itself to the full.
  2. (archaic) Command of an army or military unit.
    • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:
      Art thou but Captaine of a thouſand horſe,
      That by Characters grauen in thy browes,
      And by thy martiall face and ſtout aſpect,
      Deſeru’ſt to haue the leading of an hoſte?

Etymology 3

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From Middle English leedynge, equivalent to lead (chemical element) +‎ -ing; so named because in metal typesetting (letterpress and hot metal typesetting), pieces of lead (slugs, strips, blocks, etc) were often the mechanical means of producing the gap.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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leading (uncountable)

  1. (typography) Vertical space added between lines; line spacing.
    Hypernym: white space
Translations
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Further reading

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Anagrams

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