A small attic or loft space directly under the roof of a building.
From 'cock' (meaning a rooster, the highest thing) plus 'loft.' The term originally referred to the highest loft in a building where roosters or pigeons might be kept, dating back to Middle English.
Medieval buildings literally had roosting spaces called cocklofts—practical architecture named after its original purpose! Some scholars think 'cuckoo' in 'cuckoo clock' might share this 'highest space' meaning.
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