How to say "breathing" in Japanese

• 呼吸こきゅうJLPT N3approx.Common
  noun, suru verb, transitive verb, intransitive verbThe standard word for breathing as a bodily function or respiration, as in medical or everyday descriptions of how one breathes. It also extends to rhythms or timing of activity.
  酸素さんそは私わたしたちが呼吸こきゅうすると肺はいの中なかに取り込とりこまれる。↗

  Oxygen is taken into our lungs when we breathe.
• 息いきJLPT N3approx.Common
  nounPrimarily means 'breath' — the air taken in and let out — rather than the process of breathing. Use it when talking about holding one's breath, catching one's breath, or a single breath.
  おぼれかけた人ひとは息いきを吹き返ふきかえした。↗

  The man who nearly drowned began to breathe.
• ブリージングCommon
  nounA loanword for 'breathing', typically heard in contexts like breathing exercises, sports instruction, or relaxation techniques. In ordinary Japanese, 呼吸 is usually the word you want instead.

Use 呼吸 for breathing as a physiological process, 息 for the breath itself or momentary breathing, and 「ブリージング」 mainly for the English-derived sense used in exercise or relaxation contexts.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 呼吸こきゅうbreathing
• 息いきbreath
• ブリージングbreathing
• ブレスbreath
• 息遣いいきづかいbreathing
• 気息きそくbreathing