Meanings
plural fissures
- A long, narrow crack or opening made by breaking or splitting, especially in rock or earth.
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.
1960 April, J. P. Wilson, E. N. C. Haywood, “The route through the Peak—Derby to Manchester: Part Two”, in Trains Illustrated, page 224 - A state of incompatibility or disagreement.
Synonyms: schism
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA state of incompatibility or disagreement.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna long narrow depression in a surface
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰeyd-
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰinédti
- Proto-Italic*findō
- Latinfindō
- Latinfissūra
- Old Frenchfissure
- Middle Englishfissure
- Englishfissure
From Middle English fissure, from Old French fissure, from Latin fissūra (“a cleft, chink”), from findō (“to cleave, split, divide”) + -tūra (nominal suffix).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ῥωχμός
- ῥωχμός (rhōkhmós)crack or opening
Arabic شَقّ, صَدْع
- شَقّ (šaqq)crack or opening
- صَدْع (ṣadʕ)crack or opening
Bulgarian цепнатина, пукнатина
- цепнатина (cepnatina)crack or opening
- пукнатина (puknatina)crack or opening
- пукам (pukam)to split
- пропуквам (propukvam)to split
- пропукам (propukam)to split
- цепвам (cepvam)to split
- цепна (cepna)to split
- цепя (cepja)to split
- разцепвам (razcepvam)to split
- разцепя (razcepja)to split
Catalan fissura, fissura
- fissuracrack or opening
- fissuraanatomic groove
Chinese Mandarin 裂縫 /裂缝, 裂
- 裂縫 /裂缝 (lièfèng)crack or opening
- 裂 (liè)anatomic groove
Danish revne, sprække
- revnecrack or opening
- sprækkecrack or opening
Dutch spleet
- spleetcrack or opening
Esperanto fendo
- fendocrack or opening
Finnish halkeama, fissuura
- halkeamacrack or opening
- fissuuracrack or opening
- vakoanatomic groove
- rakoillato split
- halkeillato split
French fissure
- fissurecrack or opening
German Riss, Spalte
- Risscrack or opening
- Spaltecrack or opening
- rissig werdento split
Indonesian keretakan, meretakkan
- keretakancrack or opening
- meretakkanto split
Irish gág
- gágcrack or opening
Japanese 裂け目, 割れ目
- 裂け目 (sakeme)crack or opening
- 割れ目 (wareme)crack or opening
Latin rīma, fissura
- rīmacrack or opening
- fissuracrack or opening
Māori piere
- pierecrack or opening
Persian شکاف, چاک
- شکاف (šekâf)crack or opening
- چاک (čâk)crack or opening
- رخنه (rexne)crack or opening
- فیسور (fisur)anatomic groove
- شکافتن (šekâftan)to split
Polish szczelina
- szczelinacrack or opening
Portuguese fissura
- fissuracrack or opening
Romanian fisură, crăpătură
- fisurăcrack or opening
- crăpăturăcrack or opening
Russian тре́щина, расще́лина
- тре́щина (tréščina)crack or opening
- расще́лина (rasščélina)crack or opening
Slovak trhlina, prasklina
- trhlinacrack or opening
- prasklinacrack or opening
- puklinacrack or opening
- škáracrack or opening
Spanish grieta, fisura
- grietacrack or opening
- fisuracrack or opening
Swedish rämna, spricka
- rämnacrack or opening
- sprickacrack or opening
- fissuranatomic groove
Turkish çatlak, yarık
- çatlakcrack or opening
- yarıkcrack or opening
- fissüranatomic groove
Ukrainian тріщина, щілина
- тріщина (triščyna)crack or opening
- щілина (ščilyna)crack or opening
- борозна (borozna)anatomic groove
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with fissure
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Cite this entry
fissure. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fissure
“fissure.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fissure. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fissure,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fissure.
Source: fissure on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.