Plural of 'clift,' meaning multiple archaic or dialectal cliffs, or used in place names and surnames.
From Old English clifu (plural) or the modern plural of the archaic singular 'clift.' The '-s' plural is standard modern English, though 'clift' itself is archaic.
Place names like 'Clifts' preserve ancient words that have largely disappeared from everyday speech—surnames and geographic names are linguistic fossils that show how our ancestors pronounced and spelled words centuries ago.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.