chambered

Chambered is an adjective derived from chamber, indicating something that has a chamber or is designed to fit within a chamber. The term can describe physical objects with internal compartments, or the act of fitting something into a chamber. Etymology traces to the Old French chambre, from Latin camera.

In firearms, chambered refers to the cartridge size for which a gun is built. The chamber is the portion of the barrel that receives and seats a cartridge before firing, so a weapon described as chambered for a particular cartridge is compatible with that cartridge’s dimensions and dimensions.

In anatomy, chambered describes structures that contain multiple compartments. A well-known example is the heart: most mammals and birds have four-chambered hearts (two atria and two ventricles), while many amphibians and reptiles have three-chambered hearts; crocodilians are an exception with four chambers.

In marine biology and malacology, chambered appears in shell descriptions. The chambered nautilus, for instance, has a shell divided into multiple gas-filled chambers by septa, which enable buoyancy control as the animal grows.

In archaeology and anthropology, chambered is used to describe burial monuments that include one or more internal chambers. Chambered tombs and chambered cairns are prehistoric structures built to house remains, often featuring a central chamber or a series of connected chambers.