fissure
n.a narrow crack or opening in a surface. In the body, it is a small gap between two parts of a muscle or skin.
n.a narrow crack or opening in a surface; in anatomical contexts, a small gap between two parts of a muscle or skin.
“A small fissure appeared in the dry earth.”
“The surgeon carefully examined the fissure between the two layers of skin to ensure the wound was healing correctly.”
“Geologists studied the deep fissure in the canyon wall to understand how the tectonic plates had shifted over millions of years.”
“The source turns out to be Laki, an Icelandic fissure that spewed lava for eight months starting in June 1783.”
“There are fissures between many groups, with a huge array of conflicting issues at stake.”
From Middle English fissure, from Old French fissure, from Latin fissūra (“a cleft, chink”), from findō (“to cleave, split, divide”) + -tūra (nominal suffix).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.