'fissure' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'fissura', which in turn comes from the past participle stem of the verb 'findere' meaning 'to split'.

'fissure' changed from Latin 'fissura' into Old French 'fissure' and then entered Middle English as 'fissure', eventually becoming the modern English word 'fissure'.

Initially, it meant 'a splitting' or 'the act of splitting', but over time it evolved into the current primary sense of 'a long narrow opening or crack' and the related verb sense 'to split or develop cracks'.