Sū'per-fī'ciēs, n.

(-fīsh'ēz) (Synop., § 130), n. [Lat., from super, above, over, and facies, make, figure, shape; Fr. superficie, surface, Pr. superficie, Sp., Pg., & It. superficie. Cf. SUPERFICE and SURFACE.]

1. The surface; the exterior part or face of a thing.
2. (Civil Law.) Every thing on the surface of a piece of ground, or of a building, so closely connected by art or nature as to constitute a part of it, as houses, trees, vines, and the like, or a story erected on top of another's building; a real right consisting of a grant by a landed proprietor to another person of an area of ground for erecting a building upon it, without parting with the ownership of the soil. In many respects this right bears a strong resemblance to the long building-leases granted by landholders in England, in consideration of a rent, and under reservation of the ownership of the soil. Mackeldey. Mackenzie. Bouvier. Wharton.