English → Latin
“superficial” in Latin
summushighest; greatest, best, utmost; the highest part of, the top of, uppermost ofsuperusabove, upper, higherlevislight, not heavy; easy to digest; quick, swift, fleet, nimble, rapidperfūnctōriuscareless, negligent; perfunctory
The English word superficial itself goes back to Latin faciēs, through superficiālis.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
superficial
PROP., circumlocution by superficies, summum, or adjective, summus.
Figuratively, levis (of persons and thing, not thorough; slightly made or done): parum diligens (acting or done without due care): parum accuratus (of things, carelessly done): parum subtilis (of persons or things, not thorough or complete. ☞ Avoid superficialis and perfunctorius): A superficial author, levis auctor (Quint.). A superficial scholar, homo leviter eruditus; qui leviter attigit litteras (after Cic.). To have a superficial knowledge of litterature, leviter imbutum esse litteris (Quint.): primoribus labris litteras gustasse, attigisse (Cic.; opposed to habitare, bene versatum esse in litteris, after Cic.).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for superficial?
- The usual Latin words for “superficial” are summus, superus, levis; also perfūnctōrius. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.