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Anatomy & Physiology vocabulary · Heart, Circulation and Breathing

Respiration

Meaning in anatomy & physiology, with examples

/ˌrespəˈreɪʃən/nounCore term

In anatomy & physiology, respiration means: The process of taking in oxygen and getting rid of carbon dioxide. It covers breathing (ventilation), gas exchange in the lungs and tissues, and the use of oxygen inside cells (cellular respiration).

In Turkish: solunum

How it is used

A formal word: patients and nurses usually say breathing. The adjective respiratory is used far more often: respiratory system, respiratory rate, respiratory tract. Biology classes use cellular respiration for energy production in the mitochondria.

Example sentences

  1. The diaphragm is the main muscle of respiration.

  2. Cellular respiration in the mitochondria produces most of the cell's ATP.

Common collocations

  • cellular respiration
  • muscles of respiration
  • respiratory rate
  • respiratory system
  • lungOne of the two spongy organs in the chest where oxygen passes from the air into the blood and carbon dioxide leaves it. The right lung has three lobes and the left lung has two.
  • gas exchangeThe movement of oxygen into the blood and carbon dioxide out of it by diffusion, across the walls of the alveoli and capillaries in the lungs, and between the blood and the tissues.
  • diaphragmThe dome-shaped sheet of muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen. When it contracts it flattens and draws air into the lungs; it is the main muscle of breathing.
  • mitochondrionA small structure inside the cell that uses oxygen to produce most of the cell's energy in the form of ATP. Cells that need a lot of energy, like muscle cells, have many of them.
  • tracheaThe windpipe: the tube that carries air from the larynx down into the chest, where it divides into the right and left main bronchi. C-shaped rings of cartilage keep it open.

More terms: Heart, Circulation and Breathing

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.