surface French · revision 17653

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=calque|attested=c. 1378, Jean Le Fèvre|origins=la superficiēs}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /syʁ.fas/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''surface''' ''f'' (plural surfaces)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|fr|sur-|face]], modelled on [[la|superficiēs|t=upper side, surface]], which French also borrowed as [[superficie]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)^(Grand Robert 2005) Middle French also had [[m|frm|superface]] (1521).^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) [[face]] continues [[la-lat|facia]], for Classical Latin [[m|la|faciēs|t=appearance, face]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLFi and the DHLF find it about 1378–80 in Jean Le Fèvre's translation of ''La Vieille'', for the outer, visible part of a body; the Grand Robert and Petit Robert date the word to 1611, after ''superface'' (1521).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word took over part of the senses of [[superficie]].^(DHLF 1992) From the outer part of a body that bounds it on all sides came a shallow visible layer (1690), the ground as opposed to the subsoil, and the top of a body of water, whence ''à la surface'' (Hugo, 1862) and ''faire surface'', to surface (1949), also figuratively ''refaire surface'', to reappear after an absence.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Figuratively it means outward appearance (Nicole, 1671).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ From 1690 (Furetière) it named the outer face of a body considered as to its extent, an area, and in geometry a surface (1691).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Technical uses followed, such as ''surface de chauffe'' (1838), and in commerce ''grande surface'', a hypermarket, appears in 1969.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1521 – ''Superface''.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * c. 1378–80 – ''Surface'' in Jean Le Fèvre.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1671 – Nicole: “outward appearance”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – Furetière: “area”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1691 – In geometry.^(TLFi)

+ * 1949 – ''Faire surface''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1969 – ''Grande surface'', a hypermarket.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The outer part of a body; its [[m|en|surface]]: ''la surface de la Terre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The top of a liquid: ''la surface de l'eau'', ''faire surface'', to come to the surface, ''refaire surface'', to reappear.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Outward appearance, what is superficial: ''rester à la surface des choses''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # An [[m|en|area]], an extent measured in square units.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(geometry)'' A surface, a two-dimensional figure.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Grande surface'': a large self-service store, a [[m|en|hypermarket]].^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[face]]

+ * [[superficie]]

+ * [[superficiel]]

+ * [[la|superficiēs]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}