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

“Not every slave worked directly for their owner—just like in today’s complex fissured workplace, where not every employee is working directly for the employer with whom they signed an employment contract.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Perhaps the fissure should bring to mind Nordic depression, or familial misadventures in communication.

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There’s a crack in it that seems to represent the fissures in the family, the flaws in their facade.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The government majority approved the amendment on Wednesday, causing fissures among even the ruling party.

Read more on Barron's

Asked about the fissure, Cortez Masto responded evenly and with diplomacy.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cleavage 
• crevice