Etymograph

English

surface

Surface comes from Middle French surface.

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600surface1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1782surface1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English surface
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1782, Vicesimus Knox, On knowing the world at an early age: “Such characters as have nothing but external accompliſhments to…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600surfaceWiktionary, English surface
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1782surfaceWiktionary, English surface. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1782, Vicesimus Knox, On knowing the world at an early age: “Such characters as have nothing but external accompliſhments to…”

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Today it means

noun The external boundary of an object or body.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “surface”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle French surface / surface