superficies

noun /ˌsuː.pəˈfɪʃ.i.iːz/

1. A two-dimensional magnitude that has length and breadth; especially such a surface that forms the boundary of a solid. — The area of a two-dimensional surface.

2. A two-dimensional magnitude that has length and breadth; especially such a surface that forms the boundary of a solid. — The 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.

3. 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.

4. A building intimately associated with the land on which it is built.

Where it comes from

Borrowing from Latin superficiēs (“top, surface”), from super- (“above, over”) + faciēs (“form, configuration, shape”). Doublet of surface.

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry superficies (CC BY-SA 4.0).

← superfetatesuperincumbent →

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