A large air passage in a lung. Each lung has 1 main bronchus, originating at the end of the trachea (windpipe). This main bronchus divides into smaller branches known as segmental bronchi, which further divide into bronchioles.
Bronchus, or bronchial tube, is the name applied to tubes into which the TRACHEA divides, one going to either lung. The name is also applied to the divisions of these tubes distributed throughout the lungs, the smallest being called bronchioles.
n. (pl. bronchi) any of the air passages beyond the *trachea (windpipe) that has cartilage and mucous glands in its wall (see illustration). The trachea divides into two main bronchi, which divide successively into five lobar bronchi, 20 segmental bronchi, and two or three more divisions. See also bronchiole. —bronchial adj.
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