chamber

American  

[cheym-ber] / ˈtʃeɪm bər /

noun

1. a room, usually private, in a house or apartment, especially a bedroom.

   She retired to her chamber.

2. a room in a palace or official residence.

3. the meeting hall of a legislative or other assembly.

4. Law. chambers,

   1. a place where a judge hears matters not requiring action in open court.

   2. the private office of a judge.

   3. (in England) the quarters or rooms that lawyers use to consult with their clients, especially in the Inns of Court.

5. a legislative, judicial, or other like body.

   the upper or the lower chamber of a legislature.

6. an organization of individuals or companies for a specified purpose.

7. the place where the moneys due a government are received and kept; a treasury or chamberlain's office.

8. (in early New England) any bedroom above the ground floor, generally named for the ground-floor room beneath it.

9. a compartment or enclosed space; cavity.

   a chamber of the heart.

10. (in a canal or the like) the space between any two gates of a lock.

11. a receptacle for one or more cartridges in a firearm, or for a shell in a gun or other cannon.

12. (in a gun) the part of the barrel that receives the charge.

13. chamber pot.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or performing chamber music.

   chamber players.

verb (used with object)

1. to put or enclose in, or as in, a chamber.

2. to provide with a chamber.

chamber British  

/ ˈtʃeɪmbə /

noun

1. a meeting hall, esp one used for a legislative or judicial assembly

2. a reception room or audience room in an official residence, palace, etc

3. archaic a room in a private house, esp a bedroom

4. 1. a legislative, deliberative, judicial, or administrative assembly

   2. any of the houses of a legislature

5. an enclosed space; compartment; cavity

   the smallest chamber in the caves

6. the space between two gates of the locks of a canal, dry dock, etc

7. an enclosure for a cartridge in the cylinder of a revolver or for a shell in the breech of a cannon

8. obsolete a place where the money of a government, corporation, etc, was stored; treasury

9. short for chamber pot

10. the freezing room in an abattoir

11. (modifier) of, relating to, or suitable for chamber music

    a chamber concert

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verb

1. (tr) to put in or provide with a chamber

Other Word Forms

• underchamber
  noun

Etymology

Origin of chamber

1175–1225; Middle English chambre < Old French < Latin camera, variant of camara vaulted room, vault < Greek kamára

Explanation

A chamber is an enclosed space, often where a specific event usually takes place — such as a sleeping chamber or a torture chamber. The history of the word chamber is an interesting one. The Latin word for room was camera. The original word for camera was camera obscura, or "dark chamber," since it was a big black box. Now, the word chamber can refer to any enclosed space — such as the chamber of a gun or the four chambers of your heart.

Example Sentences

“By stripping out the ability to personalize or target them, you’re not really saving discounts at all,” Drew Ambrogi, a policy manager at Chamber of Progress, said in an interview with Salon.

From Salon • May 18, 2026

Chris Cate, president and chief executive of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the project is going through the group’s review process but it has supported it thus far.

From Los Angeles Times • May 17, 2026

Sherif El-Gebaly, head of the Chemical Industries Chamber, told AFP granular urea has risen to $700–$750 per tonne, up from about $400 before the war.

From Barron's • May 15, 2026

The Chamber of Secrets plunges Harry and his friends deeper into the dark mysteries of Hogwarts in their second year, bringing them face to face with dangerous creatures and old enemies.

From BBC • May 6, 2026

He was a slippery man, and his Black Chamber was a shady operation.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Related Words

• apartment
• bedroom
• box
• cell
• cubicle
• hall
• room