fissure

 
Pronunciation: /ˈfɪʃə/

noun

  • 1a long, narrow opening or line of breakage made by cracking or splitting, especially in rock or earth: the bacteria survive around vents or fissures in the deep ocean floor
  • Anatomy a long, narrow opening, e.g. any of the spaces separating convolutions of the brain.
  • 2a state of incompatibility or disagreement: a fissure between philosophy and reality

verb

[with object] (usually as adjective fissured)
  • split or crack (something) to form a long, narrow opening: low cliffs of fissured Silurian rock

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French, or from Latin fissura, from findere 'to split'