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

This highlight for 2025 was supposed to be one in 2024: Timberlake was set to play LCA in October when he was sidelined by a combo of bronchitis and laryngitis. —Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press, 23 Dec. 2024

These could all be symptoms of bronchitis, a condition that develops when the airways in your lungs become inflamed, or pneumonia, which causes your lungs to fill up with fluid or pus. —Juno Demelo, Glamour, 25 Oct. 2024

There are two main types of bronchitis: acute and chronic. —Jake Parks, Discover Magazine, 22 Oct. 2024

Two days before the Paris Olympics began, Rybakina withdrew due to acute bronchitis. —Lukas Weese, The Athletic, 29 Aug. 2024

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

Kids Definition

bronchitis

noun

bron·​chi·​tis brän-ˈkīt-əs 

bräŋ-

: inflammation of the bronchial tubes or a disease marked by this

Medical Definition

bronchitis

noun

bron·​chi·​tis brän-ˈkīt-əs, bräŋ- 

: acute or chronic inflammation of the bronchial tubes

also : a disease marked by this

bronchitic

-ˈkit-ik 

adjective