Bronchioles

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The tiny air tubes diverging from larger bronchial branches play an essential role in conducting air to lung tissue for optimal respiration
2. Small branching passages stemming from the bronchi help in delivering air to the alveoli for gas exchange during breathing
3. Narrow airways branching from the main bronchi facilitate the passage of air into the lungs, crucial for effective respiration and oxygen exchange

Etymology: "Bronchioles" is the plural of "bronchiole", a word built from "bronchial" plus the suffix "-ole", which signals a small thing. The form tells you the whole story: the larger tubes of the lungs were named first, and the smaller branches were named by shrinking that name. "Bronchial" comes from "bronchus", the Greek-derived term for the main airway branches, and "-ole" is the same diminutive ending found in words like "globule" and "animalcule". Put together, "bronchiole" literally means a little bronchus, the fine branch that splits off from the larger passage and carries air down into the lung's tiniest sacs.

Synonyms: bronchial tubes, airways, respiratory passages, small bronchi, alveolar ducts