fissure

See also: fissuré

English

A fissure in the ground.

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyd-

Proto-Indo-European *-né-

Proto-Indo-European *-ti

Proto-Indo-European *bʰinédti

Proto-Italic *findō

Latin findō

Proto-Indo-European *-tew-?

Proto-Indo-European *-r-eh₂?

Latin -tūra

Latin fissūrader.

Old French fissurebor.

Middle English fissure

English fissure

From Middle English fissure, from Old French fissure, from Latin fissūra (“a cleft, chink”), from findō (“to cleave, split, divide”) +‎ -tūra (nominal suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɪʃ.ə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɪʃ.ɚ/, /ˈfɪʒ.ɚ/
• Homophones: Fischer, Fisher, fisher, phisher
• Rhymes: -ɪʃə(ɹ)

Noun

fissure (plural fissures)

1. A long, narrow crack or opening made by breaking or splitting, especially in rock or earth.

   Hyponym: microfissure

   • 1960 April, J. P. Wilson, E. N. C. Haywood, “The route through the Peak—Derby to Manchester: Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, page 224:

     After Miller's Dale Junction, the main Derby-Manchester line crosses the Wye for the last time and turns north-west up Great Rocks Dale, a natural fissure several miles long.

2. (anatomy) A groove, deep furrow, elongated cleft or tear between body parts or in the substance of an organ.

   Hyponyms: anal fissure, anterior median fissure, longitudinal fissure, orbital fissure, palpebral fissure, Rolandic fissure, sylvian fissure

   Coordinate terms: fossa, fovea, sulcus, cleft, lacuna, vallecula

3. (anatomy) A break or slit in tissue usually at the junction of skin and mucous membrane.
4. A state of incompatibility or disagreement.

   Synonym: schism

Derived terms

• ape-fissure
• contrafissure, counterfissure
• fissural
• fissurate
• fissureless
• fissurelike
• fissure needle
• fissure vein
• fissure vent
• fissuriform
• fissurization
• fissurotomy
• fissury
• inferior orbital fissure
• laryngofissure
• pterygomaxillary fissure
• superior orbital fissure
• Sylvian fissure
• thyrofissure

Translations

crack or opening

• Arabic: شَقّ (šaqq), صَدْع (ṣadʕ)
• Armenian: ճաք (hy) (čakʻ)
• Azerbaijani: çat (az), çatlaq, yarıq
• Bulgarian: цепнатина (bg) f (cepnatina), пукнатина (bg) f (puknatina)
• Catalan: fissura (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 裂縫 / 裂缝 (zh) (lièfèng)

• Danish: revne c, sprække c
• Dutch: spleet (nl)
• Esperanto: fendo
• Finnish: halkeama (fi), (medicine) fissuura
• French: fissure (fr) f
• Galician: laño m, laña f, granipela f, fisura f
• German: Riss (de) m, Spalte (de) f

  Alemannic German: Chlack m

• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ῥωχμός m (rhōkhmós)

• Indonesian: keretakan (id)
• Ingrian: lonka
• Irish: gág f
• Japanese: 裂け目 (ja) (さけめ, sakeme), 割れ目 (ja) (われめ, wareme)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: qelîş

• Latin: rīma (la) f, fissura f
• Macedonian: пукна́тина f (puknátina), ра́сцеп m (ráscep), цепна́тина f (cepnátina)
• Malayalam: വിള്ളൽ (ml) (viḷḷal)
• Māori: piere
• Persian: شکاف (fa) (šekâf), چاک (fa) (čâk), رخنه (fa) (rexne)
• Polish: szczelina (pl)
• Portuguese: fissura (pt) f
• Romanian: fisură (ro) f, crăpătură (ro) f
• Russian: тре́щина (ru) f (tréščina), расще́лина (ru) f (rasščélina)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: расцеп m

  Latin: rascep (sh) m

• Slovak: trhlina f, prasklina f, puklina f, škára f
• Spanish: grieta (es) f, fisura (es) f
• Swedish: rämna (sv), spricka (sv) c
• Turkish: çatlak (tr), yarık (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: آرالق (aralık), چاك (çâk)

• Ukrainian: тріщина f (triščyna), щілина f (ščilyna)

anatomic groove

• Catalan: fissura (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 裂 (zh) (liè)

• Finnish: vako (fi)
• Galician: degresa f, razada (gl) f, cieiro m
• Persian: فیسور (fisur)
• Swedish: fissur (sv) c
• Turkish: fissür
• Ukrainian: борозна (uk) f (borozna) (мозку)

Verb

fissure (third-person singular simple present fissures, present participle fissuring, simple past and past participle fissured)

1. To split, forming fissures.

Derived terms

• fissuration
• fissured (adjective)
• fissuring (noun)

Translations

to split

• Bulgarian: пукам (bg) (pukam), пропуквам impf (propukvam), пропукам pf (propukam), цепвам (bg) (cepvam), цепна pf (cepna), цепя (bg) (cepja), разцепвам (bg) impf (razcepvam), разцепя pf (razcepja)
• Finnish: rakoilla (fi), halkeilla (fi)
• German: rissig werden
• Indonesian: meretakkan (id)
• Persian: شکافتن (fa) (šekâftan)

References

• “fissure”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “fissure”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• fussier, surfies

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French, borrowed from Latin fissūra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fi.syʁ/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -yʁ

Noun

fissure f (plural fissures)

1. fissure

   Synonym: fente

Related terms

• fendre

Descendants

• → Persian: فیسور (fisur)
• → Romanian: fisură

See also

• ouverture

Verb

fissure

1. inflection of fissurer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “fissure”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Latin

Participle

fissūre

1. vocative masculine singular of fissūrus

Middle English

Alternative forms

• ffissure

Etymology

From Old French fissure, from Latin fissūra.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fiˈsiu̯r(ə)/

Noun

fissure (Late Middle English, rare)

1. (anatomy) fissure, rupture
2. (surgery) incision

Descendants

• English: fissure

References

• “fissūre, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Portuguese

Verb

fissure

1. inflection of fissurar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative