411 REFERENCE · Wiktionary
Leute
Reference material by Wiktionary contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
German
thumb|1. Leute
Alternative forms
de Leut colloquial or poetic
de Leut'
de Leude pronunciation spelling
Etymology
de ine-pro *h₁lewdʰ-
From de gmh liute, from de goh liuti, also goh liudi, from de gmw-pro *liud(i), from de gem-pro *liudiz *liudīz people, from de ine-pro *h₁lewdʰ- man, people.
Compare nl lieden, luden, luiden people, non lýðr lýðir people (whence is lýður), osx liudi, ang lēode people, en lede people, got *𐌻𐌹𐌿𐌸𐍃, pl ludzie, sh ljȗdi, sl ljudjẹ̑, bg люде, ru люди. More at leod and sla-pro *ľudьje.
Pronunciation
de /ˈlɔɪ.tə/ [ˈlɔe̠.t(ʰ)ə] [ˈlɔe̠.də] [ˈlɔe̠.ɾə]
de De-at-Leute.ogg Austria die Leute
de De-Leute.ogg <<Germany>> (<<Berlin>>)
de läute Läute
de Leu te
de ɔʏ̯.tə 2
Noun
p chen,lein
people several individual persons, a group of people in general, esp. of one kind or another, folk (folks), peeps slang, guys (boys and/or girls)
de 1754 Der Königl. Akademie der Wissenschaften in Paris Physische Abhandlungen, Zehnter Theil, welcher die Jahre 1733 und 1734 in sich hält. Aus dem Französischen übersetzt von Wolf Balth. Adolph von Steinwehr Breslau 598 Gleich den andern Tag schicketen wir zween Leute mit der Post fort: Note: The work also has masculine zween Theile, zween Zoll, zween Beobachter, feminine zwo oder drey Linien, zwo neue Wahrheiten, neuter zwey Stücke, zwey kleine Glasfenster.
Usage notes
A backformed singular de Leut person may be heard in colloquial speech. It is rare and usually humorous.
Declension
mp
Noun
de noun form
de Leut nom//acc//gen p
Further reading
de
de pluralia tantum