Etymologically
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cliff

Etymology and origin of the English word cliff

History Permalink
Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Inherited
First attested
854
Inherited from
Old English clif
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic (*klibą)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /klɪf/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English clif, inherited from Old English clif (“steep face of rock, promontory, slope”),[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *kliban,[2][5] source also of Old Saxon clif, Old Norse klif, Dutch klip and German Klippe (“cliff, rock”),[2][3] of uncertain origin.[2][5] MWU and Collins relate it to Old English clīfian, to adhere (see cleave, to stick),[4][6][3] while some scholars connect it with cleave, to split, since words for rock in several languages come from forms meaning split.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A steep face of rock: 854 in the OED, about 725 in Beowulf in Barnhart.[7][3]

Semantic evolution

Especially a rock face on the seashore, it is from before 1000.[7] Land beside the sea, a shore, is an obsolete Old English sense,[7] and a steep slope or hill from before 1200, a sense kept in Lincolnshire place names.[7] In coal mining, the strata above or between seams is from 1676,[7] and in golf the face of a bunker from 1890.[7] The variant spelling clift, common in early modern English, shows the influence of cleft.[2] Cliff-dweller is American English from 1879–81, of the peoples of the Southwest who built homes in recesses of cliffs.[2][3]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – clif, in Beowulf.[3]
  • 854 – a rock face.[7]
  • 15th century – the spelling clift.[2]
  • 1676 – in coal mining.[7]
  • 1879 – cliff-dweller.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A high, steep or overhanging face of rock, especially on a coast.

Word family

  • cliffy
  • clifflike
  • cliffhanger
  • cliff swallow

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

  • twist · also from Old English
  • folk · also from Old English
  • fever · also from Old English
  • climb · also from Old English
  • leaf · also from Old English
  • bin · also from Old English
  • baker · also from Old English
  • palm · also from Old English
Cite this entry

“Cliff.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/cliff. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·