Etymology

superficial

sup·er·fi·cial
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Today it means: Existing, occurring, or located on the surface. Full definition →

Late Latin superficiālis
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The story

  1. Late Latin · borrowed fromsuperficiālis“of or belonging to the surface”
  2. English todaysuperficial

Borrowing from Late Latin superficiālis (“of or belonging to the surface”), from superficiēs (“top, surface”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.