Affixes

The bronchi (singular bronchus) are the major air passages of the lungs which split off from the windpipe. Bronchitis is inflammation of the mucous membrane in the bronchial tubes; it typically causes coughing and bronchospasm, a spasm of bronchial smooth muscle, producing narrowing of the bronchi. A bronchodilator is a drug that causes widening of the bronchi, such as those taken to alleviate asthma; bronchiectasis is abnormal widening of the bronchi or their branches, causing a risk of infection; a bronchiole is one of the minute branches into which a bronchus divides.