superficial: [14] Superficial means literally ‘of the surface’. It comes from Latin superficiālis, a derivative of superficiēs ‘surface’. This was a compound noun formed from the prefix super- ‘above’ and faciēs ‘face’ (ancestor of English face). The main modern sense, ‘concerned only with outward appearances’, emerged in the 16th century. => face, surface[superficial etymology, superficial origin, 英语词源]