Meanings
- A two-dimensional magnitude that has length and breadth; especially such a surface that forms the boundary of a solid.
- geometryThe area of a two-dimensional surface.
- geometryThe visible, external surface of a body.
The Superficies was compoſed of ſeveral bits of Wood, about the bigneſs of a Dye, but ſome larger than others.
1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “The Author Permitted to See the Grand Academy of Lagado. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume II, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part III (A Voyage to Laputa, Balnibarbi, Glubbdubdribb, Luggnagg, and Japan), page 72
- The surface (of something immaterial, especially of the mind or soul).
An immense metropolis, like London, is calculated to make men selfish and uninteresting. … They present but the cold superficies of character—its rich and genial qualities have no time to be warmed into a flow.
1819, Washington Irving, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Rural Life in England - lawA building intimately associated with the land on which it is built.
Origin
- Latinsuperficiēs“top, surface”
- Englishsuperficies
Borrowing from Latin superficiēs (“top, surface”), from super- (“above, over”) + faciēs (“form, configuration, shape”). Doublet of surface.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
superficies. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/superficies
“superficies.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/superficies. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “superficies,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/superficies.
Source: superficies on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.