chamber English · revision 5001

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200|origins=grc καμάρα}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈtʃeɪm.bə/, US /ˈtʃeɪm.bɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|chaumbre]], [[bor|fro|chambre|t=room, apartment]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la-lat|camera|t=a chamber, room]], in Latin “vault, arch”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[grc|καμάρα|tr=kamárā|t=vaulted chamber, anything with an arched cover]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) It is a doublet of [[camera]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A room in a house, usually a private one such as a bedroom: about 1200 in Etymonline and before 1200 in Barnhart, in the Ancrene Riwle;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) before 1300 in the OED.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A legislative or judicial body is from about 1400 (about 1325 in the OED), from the rooms where such assemblies met.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In anatomy, an enclosed space in the body is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) and of firearms the part of the bore that holds the charge from the 1620s.^(Etymonline) A judge's private room, ''chambers'', is from 1641.^(OED 1989) A ''chamber pot'' takes its name from the bedroom.^(Etymonline) ''Chamber music'' (1765), originally meant for smaller rooms, renders Italian da camera.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) A Chamber of Commerce is from 1788.^(OED 1989) The verb, to shut up as in a chamber, is from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – a private room.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1325 – an assembly.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – a space in the body.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1620s – the chamber of a gun.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1765 – ''chamber music''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1788 – Chamber of Commerce.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large room used for a special purpose, especially for formal meetings.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # One of the houses of a [[parliament]] or legislature.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An enclosed space in the body or in a machine: ''the chambers of the heart''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The part of a [[gun]] that holds the bullet or cartridge.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(plural)'' A judge's room for hearing cases privately, or a set of rooms used by barristers.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A private room, especially a bedroom.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To put a bullet or cartridge into the chamber of a gun.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[chambered]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[camera]]

+ * [[comrade]]

+ * [[chamberlain]]

+ * [[chamber pot]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}