Either of the two main tubes that branch off from the trachea (windpipe) and carry air directly into each of the two lungs.
From Greek 'bronchos' meaning 'windpipe' or 'throat.' The word likely derives from an Indo-European root related to breath and wind, and was used anatomically for centuries to describe the major airways.
Your trachea is a single tube, but it splits into two bronchi at a point called the carina—one bronchus goes to your left lung, one to your right. This Y-shape is so important that surgeons and doctors talk about 'left main bronchus' and 'right main bronchus' all the time.
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