cliff English · revision 7847

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=854|origins=gem-pro *klibą}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /klɪf/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English clif, [[inh|ang|clif|t=steep face of rock, promontory, slope]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from Proto-Germanic *kliban,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) source also of Old Saxon clif, Old Norse klif, Dutch [[m|nl|klip]] and German [[m|de|Klippe|t=cliff, rock]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) MWU and Collins relate it to Old English clīfian, to adhere (see [[cleave]], to stick),^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023)^(Barnhart 1988) while some scholars connect it with cleave, to split, since words for rock in several languages come from forms meaning split.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A steep face of rock: 854 in the OED, about 725 in ''Beowulf'' in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Especially a rock face on the seashore, it is from before 1000.^(OED 1989) Land beside the sea, a shore, is an obsolete Old English sense,^(OED 1989) and a steep slope or hill from before 1200, a sense kept in Lincolnshire place names.^(OED 1989) In coal mining, the strata above or between seams is from 1676,^(OED 1989) and in golf the face of a bunker from 1890.^(OED 1989) The variant spelling clift, common in early modern English, shows the influence of [[cleft]].^(Etymonline) ''Cliff-dweller'' is American English from 1879–81, of the peoples of the Southwest who built homes in recesses of cliffs.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – clif, in Beowulf.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 854 – a rock face.^(OED 1989)

+ * 15th century – the spelling clift.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1676 – in coal mining.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1879 – cliff-dweller.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A high, steep or overhanging face of [[rock]], especially on a coast.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cliffy]]

+ * [[clifflike]]

+ * [[cliffhanger]]

+ * [[cliff swallow]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cleft]]

+ * [[cleave]]

+ * [[clift]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}