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Origin and history of cliff

cliff(n.)

Old English clif "steep and rugged face of a rocky mass, promontory, steep slope," from Proto-Germanic *kliban (source also of Old Saxon clif, Old Norse klif, Middle Dutch klippe, Dutch klip, Old High German klep, German Klippe "cliff, promontory, steep rock"), which is of uncertain origin.

Clift has been a variant spelling since 15c. and was common in early Modern English. It represents an influence by or merger with clift, a variant of cleft (n.). Cliff-dweller is attested by 1879, American English, in reference to aboriginal tribes of the U.S. Southwest who built dwellings in natural recesses in cliffs.

Entries linking to cliff

cleft(n.)

1570s, alteration (by influence of cleft, new weak past participle of cleave (v.1)), of Middle English clift "fissure, rift, space or opening made by cleaving" (early 14c.), from Old English geclyft (adj.) "split, cloven," from Proto-Germanic *kluftis (compare Old High German chluft, German Kluft, Danish kløft "cleft, fissure, gap"), from PIE root *gleubh- "to tear apart, cleave." In Middle English anatomy, it meant "the parting of the thighs" (early 14c.).

Cleveland

city in Ohio, U.S., laid out 1796 by Gen. Moses Cleaveland (1754-1806) and later named for him. His relations included U.S. President Grover Cleveland (1837-1908). The family name (attested from 12c.) is from one of several place names in England based on Middle English cleove, a variant of cliff.

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Trends of cliff

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

cliff-hanger
also cliffhanger, "suspenseful situation," 1950, a transferred use from an earlier meaning "movie serial" (1933), from cliff + hang (v.). In some U.S. continued-next-week silent cinema serials in the "Perils of Pauline" days, the episode often ended with the heroine "hanging over
drop
Middle English drope, from Old English dropa "a small, spherical mass of liquid," from Proto-Germanic *drupon (source also of Old Saxon dropo, Old Norse dropi, Dutch drop, Old High German tropfo, German Tropfen (n.)); see drop (v.). Sense of "minute quantity of anything, least po
scar
[rocky cliff] 1670s, "bare and broken rocky face of a cliff or on the side of a mountain;" earlier scarre "naked, detached...
scree
"pile of debris at the base of a cliff or steep mountainside," 1781, a back-formation from screes (plural) "pebbles, small...
bluff
"broad, vertical cliff," 1680s, from bluff (adj.)...
abrupt
sudden, unceremonious, without notice," a figurative use from Latin abruptus "broken off," also "precipitous, steep" (as a cliff...
talus
Mainly used of military earthwork at first; meaning "sloping mass of rocky fragments that has fallen from a cliff" is first...
formation
late 14c., "vital force in plants and animals;" early 15c., "act of creating or making," from Old French formacion "formation, fashioning, creation" (12c.) or directly from Latin formationem (nominative formatio) "a forming, shaping," noun of action or condition from past-partici
crag
"a steep, rugged rock; rough, broken, projecting rock, especially a sea-cliff," early 14c. (as a place-name element from c. 1200), probably from a Celtic source akin to Old Irish crec "rock," and carrac "cliff," Welsh craig "rock, stone," Manx creg, Breton krag. A cragsman (1815)
precipice
1630s, "very steep or perpendicular face of rock," from French précipice, from Latin praecipitium "a steep place," literally "a fall or leap, a falling down or headlong," from praeceps (genitive praecipitis) "steep, headlong, headfirst," from prae "before, forth" (see pre-) + cap

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Dictionary entries near cliff
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