fissure

[fish-er]

noun

1. a narrow opening produced by cleavage or separation of parts.

2. cleavage.

3. Anatomy.,  a natural division or groove in an organ, as in the brain.

verb (used with object)

fissured, fissuring 

1. to make fissures in; cleave; split.

verb (used without object)

fissured, fissuring 

1. to open in fissures; become split.

fissure

/ ˈfɪʃə /

noun

1. any long narrow cleft or crack, esp in a rock

2. a weakness or flaw indicating impending disruption or discord

   fissures in a decaying empire

3. anatomy a narrow split or groove that divides an organ such as the brain, lung, or liver into lobes See also sulcus

4. a small unnatural crack in the skin or mucous membrane, as between the toes or at the anus

5. a minute crack in the surface of a tooth, caused by imperfect joining of enamel during development

verb

1. to crack or split apart

fissure

1. A long, narrow crack or opening in the face of a rock. Fissures are often filled with minerals of a different type from those in the surrounding rock.

Other Word Forms

• fissural adjective
• fissureless adjective
• subfissure noun
• superfissure noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of fissure¹

1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin fissūra cleaving, cleft, fissure, equivalent to fiss ( us ) divided ( fissi- ) + -ūra -ure

Word History and Origins

Origin of fissure¹

C14: from medical Latin fissūra , from Latin fissus split

Example Sentences

The old city centre is at risk from ground fissures after more than a century of iron ore mining.

From BBC

Nicola Sturgeon was never going to get through her book promotion without having to talk about gender – it was an issue that caused a real fissure in the SNP.

From BBC

At first, you don't notice them but as soon as you see one, you start to see them everywhere - hundreds of them, in every fissure and crevice.

From BBC

In places, collapsing aquifers have caused the land to sink, creating fissures in the ground that have damaged roads.

From Los Angeles Times

Before they crack, tiny fissures show up between the holes.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cleavage 
• crevice