How to Pronounce Bronchus

Say it like this: BRONG-kus. The first part rhymes with 'song,' and the second part sounds like 'us.' The stress falls on the first syllable, BRONG, so you say it a bit louder and longer than the 'kus' part.

Break it into two syllables: BRONG-kus. The first syllable is BRONG (like the sound of a gong), and the second is kus (like the word 'bus' without the 'b').

The plural is 'bronchi,' pronounced BRONG-kye (rhymes with 'sky'). It comes from the Latin ending -us, which becomes -i in the plural form, just like 'cactus' becomes 'cacti.'

A bronchus is one of the two main air tubes that bring air into your lungs. Think of your trachea (windpipe) as a tree trunk that splits into two big branches—those two branches are your bronchi.

It comes from ancient Greek and means 'windpipe' or 'throat.' The root 'bronch-' appears in many breathing-related medical words, like 'bronchitis' (inflammation of the bronchi) and 'bronchoscope' (a tool to look inside the bronchi).

People sometimes say BRON-shus or bronk-us, but the correct way is BRONG-kus. Remember: the 'ch' sound doesn't appear—it's a hard 'ng' sound like in 'song,' followed by 'kus.'

You might say, 'The doctor explained that air travels down the trachea and then splits into the left and right bronchus.' Or: 'The right bronchus is wider than the left bronchus.'

Words like 'bronchi' (plural), 'bronchiole' (smaller branches inside the lung), 'bronchial' (describing things related to the bronchi), and 'bronchitis' (inflammation) all come from the same 'bronch-' root that means airway.