superficial

Forms

superficial m or f (masculine and feminine plural superficiales)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin superficiālis (“of the surface”), from superficiēs (“surface”) with the suffix -ālis.^[2][1][3] The Latin adjective is late, found in Cassiodorus, Isidore and, in the figurative sense, Tertullian.^[4] The noun is formed from super (“above”) and faciēs (“form, face”), and was borrowed as superficie about 1440.^[5][3]

The adjective is Italian superficiale, French superficiel and Catalan superficial.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first text in the CDH is Enrique de Villena's translation and gloss of the Aeneid (1427–1428, in a copy of 1442), already figurative: readers should finish the book before they blame el superfiçial entendimiento “the shallow understanding”.^[7] The literal sense appears in the Arte complida de cirugía (before 1450): sy la llaga fuere superfiçial asy commo enel cuero solo “if the wound is superficial, as in the skin alone”.^[7] The DCECH and the BDELC first record it in Alonso de Palencia, 1490.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

In 15th-century texts it was also a term of arithmetic: the Spanish translation of Isidore's Etymologies calls a plane number cuento superficial.^[7] The Diccionario de Autoridades gave the literal sense “touching or belonging to the surface” and the figurative sense “apparent, without solidity or substance”, quoting Sabuco.^[8] Domínguez (1846) recorded a medical use for a pulse felt as if the artery lay just under the skin.^[9] The Academy added the sense “frivolous, without foundation” in 1899, and the DLE keeps all four senses.^[10][2] The first record from the Americas is from Mexico in 1746, of a stony ground layer.^[11]

Timeline

• 1427–1428 – Villena speaks of a superfiçial entendimiento.^[7]
• before 1450 – a surgical treatise uses it of a wound in the skin only.^[7]
• 1490 – Alonso de Palencia, the first record in the DCECH and the BDELC.^[3][5]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades gives the literal and the figurative sense.^[8]
• 1746 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico.^[11]
• 1899 – the Academy adds the sense “frivolous” and the etymology from Latin superficialis.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or relating to the surface: la tensión superficial del agua.^[2][1]
2. Lying or remaining on the surface; not deep: una quemadura superficial.^[2][12]
3. Apparent, without solidity or substance; shallow: un análisis superficial del problema.^[2][1]
4. Frivolous, without foundation (of a person: concerned only with appearances).^[2][13]

Word family

• superficialidad
• superficialmente

Related words

• superficie
• faz
• Latin superficiēs

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. superficial
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 329
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. superficialis
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. faz
6. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. 411
7. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. superficial
8. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 185
9. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1596
10. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 935
11. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. superficial
12. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. superficial
13. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. superficial