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fissum

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word fissum

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin findō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin findo
Latin fissum
From the same root
Latin diffindo ← findo

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈfɪs.sũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈfis.sum][1]

Forms

fissum n (genitive fissī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin findō (“to split”): the noun is the neuter of fissus (“split”), the verb's perfect passive participle.[2][1][3] The verb goes back to Proto-Italic *find-e- and Proto-Indo-European *bʰi-n-d- (“to cleave”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[3] who has implēvistī fūstī fissōrum caput “you have filled my head with cracks with your cudgel”.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Cicero it is a technical word of haruspicy, a cleft in the liver of a sacrificed animal, examined with the other entrails: the De dīvīnātiōne speaks of what a cleft in the entrails or a fibre signifies.[5][4][1] Celsus uses it of fissures of the anus.[5] English fissure is from the related fissūra.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of cracks in a beaten head.[4][3]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the cleft of the liver in haruspicy.[5][4][7]
  • 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of anal fissures.[5][7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A cleft, fissure, split.[2][4]
  2. (religion) The cleft of the liver in a victim's entrails, read by the haruspex.[5][4][1]
  3. (medicine) A fissure of the anus.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e f Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
Cite this entry

“Fissum.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/fissum. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·