Bronchus

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈbɹɒŋkəs/

Definitions

1. Either of the two primary tubes branching from the trachea that carry air to each lung, vital for the process of breathing
2. A major airway conduit that splits from the trachea into the lungs, integral for oxygen delivery to the respiratory system
3. One of the two main passages that divide from the trachea to lead air into the lungs, essential for respiratory function

Etymology: The Ancient Greek "brónkhos" originally meant "throat" or "windpipe," the part of the body where a sound seems to rattle or gurgle. Its origins lie in a sense of noise, and the Greeks used it for the trachea itself, the single tube running from the mouth down into the chest. Only later, in Latin and then in modern medicine, did the term narrow to the two branches that split off from the bottom of that tube. Late Latin borrowed the Greek word as "bronchus," and English took it directly from that Latin form as a learned borrowing. Anatomists therefore kept the old meaning of the throat's lower end but applied it to the airways beyond the trachea. The modern sense, one of the two main passages carrying air into the lungs, is a shift of attention from the single pipe to the paired branches beneath it.

Synonyms: bronchi