CHAMBERLAIN

(Fr. cham bell an; Germ, kammerherr.) A high officer in all European courts. Originally the chamberlain was the keeper of the treasure chamber (camera, in the 10th century); and this meaning of the word is still preserved, in the usages of corporations of London and other places, where the chamberlain is the officer who keeps the money belonging to the municipal body. But, in modern times, the court officer styled chamberlain has the charge of the private apartments of the sovereign or noble to whom he is attached. In England, the lord great chamberlain, or king's chamberlain, is one of the three great officers of the king's household. He has the control of all the officers above stairs, except the precinct of the king's bedchamber, which is under the government of the groom of the stole. V 2 [s. 224]