bronchitis

noun

bron·chi·tis brän-ˈkī-təs

bräŋ-

: acute or chronic inflammation of the bronchial tubes

also : a disease marked by this

bronchitic

brän-ˈki-tik

bräŋ-

adjective

Did you know?

The bronchial tubes carry air into the tiny branches and smaller cells of the lungs. In bronchitis, the tubes become sore and you develop a deep cough. Bronchitis caused by bacteria can be treated with antibiotics, but there's no drug treatment for the more common kind caused by a virus. A bout of bronchitis may involve a couple of weeks of coughing (with no laughing allowed), weakness, and loss of energy and interest in doing things. Apart from that, bronchitis is rarely serious—at least if it doesn't progress to pneumonia.

Examples of bronchitis in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web It’s been used for thousands of years in traditional and folk medicine to treat a range of issues from bronchitis to skin infections. —

Katie Camero, NBC News, 5 Aug. 2023 In fact, research suggests that smoking marijuana can lead to chronic bronchitis even injure the cell linings of your lungs, according to the American Lung Association. —

Melissa Matthews, Men's Health, 7 July 2023 Wracked by chronic asthmatic bronchitis and rheumatic fever, he was forced to spend entire winters indoors. —

Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 22 June 2023 Secondhand smoke also increases a child's risk of SIDS, bronchitis, ear infections, and asthma. —

Sandra Gordon, Parents, 31 July 2023 Below is a comparison of symptoms for pneumonia, bronchitis, colds, and the flu.15161718 What Does Pneumonia Look Like? —

Karen Pallarito, Health, 6 July 2023 The Medical Examiner’s Office states that Marley had a history of asthma, bronchitis, and pneumonia and had not been taking his medication for his asthma diagnosis at the time of his death. —

Tomás Mier, Rolling Stone, 26 June 2023 The virus, a relatively obscure cousin of respiratory syncytial virus, can cause infections like bronchitis or pneumonia that can be severe in children and older adults, according to the CDC. —

Ilena Peng, Fortune Well, 1 June 2023 In Ohio, nearly 1 in 10 residents have chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or emphysema, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. —

The Enquirer, 28 June 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bronchitis.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin bronchium "branch of a bronchus, bronchial tube" + -itis — more at bronchial

Note: The term bronchitis was apparently introduced into English by the British physician Charles Badham (1780-1845) in Observations on the Inflammatory Affections of the Mucous Membrane of the Bronchiæ (London: Callow, 1808), though the word had been used earlier (as a Latinate synonym of Luftröhrenästentzündung) by the German physician Johann Christian Stark (1753-1811) in Handbuch zur Kenntnis und Heilung innerer Krankheiten des menschlichen Körpers (Jena, 1799), pp. 144, 167.

First Known Use

1808, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of bronchitis was in 1808

See more words from the same year