‖ branchiæ, branchia, n. pl.
(ˈbræŋkɪiː, ˈbræŋkɪə)
Also obs. ME. pl. braunches.
[L. branchia, pl. branchiæ, ad. Gr. βράγχια gills, pl. of βράγχιον (in sing. meaning a fin).]
The organs of respiration in fishes, etc.; gills.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxxv. (1495) 147 Some beestes haue no lounges but they haue braunches in stede of lounges. 1674 Grew Anat. Trunks i. iii. §26 Fishes having their Branchiæ; Land-Animals their Lungs. 1854 Bushnan in Circ. Sc. (1865) II. 23/2 The Pulmonary Arachnidians..breathe by..pulmonary branchia. 1866 Wood Nat. Hist. (1874) 627 The double gills or branchiæ. |