Leute

German

Etymology

From Old High German liuti, also liudi, from Proto-Germanic *liudīz (“people”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lewdʰ- (“man, people”). Compare Dutch lieden/luden/luiden "people", Old Norse lýðir (“people”) (whence Icelandic lýður), Old Saxon liudi, Old English lēode (“people”), English lede (“people”), Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌸𐍃 (liuþs), Russian люди (ljudi), Bulgarian люде (ljude). More at leod.

Alternative forms

Leut (colloquial or poetic)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈlɔʏ̯tə/
audio (Austria) (file)
Audio (file)
Homophones: läute, Läute

Noun

Leute (plural only, diminutive Leutchen or Leutlein)

people (several individual persons or humanity in general)

Declension

Declension of Leute (plural only)

	singular
	def.	noun
nominative	die	Leute
genitive	der	Leute
dative	den	Leuten
accusative	die	Leute

Usage notes

A backformed singular der Leut, meaning “a person”, may be heard in colloquial speech. It is rare and usually humorous.

Further reading

Leute in Duden online

Noun 2

Leute

plural of Leut

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