Chamberlain Cham"ber·lain noun [ Old French chamberlain , chambrelencF . chambellon , Old High German chamerling , chamarlinc , German kämmerling , kammer chamber (fr. Latin camera ) + -ling . See Chamber , and -ling .] [ Formerly written chamberlin .] 1. An officer or servant who has charge of a chamber or chambers.

2. An upper servant of an inn. [ Obsolete]

3. An officer having the direction and management of the private chambers of a nobleman or monarch; hence, in Europe, one of the high officers of a court.

4. A treasurer or receiver of public money; as, the chamberlain of London, of North Wales, etc.

The lord chamberlain of England , an officer of the crown, who waits upon the sovereign on the day of coronation, and provides requisites for the palace of Westminster, and for the House of Lords during the session of Parliament. Under him are the gentleman of the black rod and other officers. His office is distinct from that of the lord chamberlain of the Household , whose functions relate to the royal housekeeping.

Chamberlainship Cham"ber·lain·ship noun Office of a chamberlain.

Chambermaid Cham"ber·maid` noun 1. A maidservant who has the care of chambers, making the beds, sweeping, cleaning the rooms, etc.

2. A lady's maid. [ Obsolete] Johnson.

Chambertin Cham`ber·tin" noun A red wine from Chambertin near Dijon, in Burgundy.

Chambranle Cham`bran"le noun [ French] (Architecture) An ornamental bordering or framelike decoration around the sides and top of a door, window, or fireplace. The top piece is called the traverse and the side pieces the ascendants .

Chambray Cham"bray noun [ From Cambrai , France. Confer Cambric .] A gingham woven in plain colors with linen finish.

Chambrel Cham"brel noun Same as Gambrel .

Chameck Cha·meck" noun [ Native Brazilian name.] (Zoology) A kind of spider monkey ( Ateles chameck ), having the thumbs rudimentary and without a nail.

Chameleon Cha·me"le·on (kȧ*mē"le*ŭn) noun [ Latin Chamaeleon , Greek chamaile`wn , lit., "ground lion;" chamai` on the ground + le`wn lion. See Humble , and Lion .] (Zoology) A lizardlike reptile of the genus Chamæleo , of several species, found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. The skin is covered with fine granulations; the tail is prehensile, and the body is much compressed laterally, giving it a high back.

» Its color changes more or less with the color of the objects about it, or with its temper when disturbed. In a cool, dark place it is nearly white, or grayish; on admitting the light, it changes to brown, bottle-green, or blood red, of various shades, and more or less mottled in arrangment. The American chameleons belong to Anolis and allied genera of the family Iguanidæ . They are more slender in form than the true chameleons, but have the same power of changing their colors.

Chameleon mineral (Chemistry) , the compound called potassium permanganate , a dark violet, crystalline substance, KMnO ₄ , which in formation passes through a peculiar succession of color from green to blue, purple, red, etc. See Potassium permanganate , under Potassium .

Chameleonize Cha·me"le·on·ize transitive verb To change into various colors. [ R.]

Chamfer Cham"fer noun [ See Chamfron .] The surface formed by cutting away the arris, or angle, formed by two faces of a piece of timber, stone, etc.

Chamfer Cham"fer transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Chamfered ; present participle & verbal noun Chamfering . ]

1. (Carp.) To cut a furrow in, as in a column; to groove; to channel; to flute.

2. To make a chamfer on.

Chamfret Cham"fret noun [ See Chamfron .] 1. (Carp.) A small gutter; a furrow; a groove.

2. A chamfer.

Chamfron Cham"fron noun [ French chanfrein .] (Anc. Armor) The frontlet, or head armor, of a horse. [ Written also champfrain and chamfrain .]

Chamisal Cha`mi·sal" noun [ Amer. Spanish , from Spanish chamiza a kind of wild cane.] 1. (Botany) A California rosaceous shrub ( Adenostoma fasciculatum ) which often forms an impenetrable chaparral.

2. A chaparral formed by dense growths of this shrub.

Chamlet Cham"let noun See Camlet . [ Obsolete]

Chamois Cham"ois (shăm"mȳ or shȧ*moi"; 277) noun [ French chamois , probably from OG. gamz , German gemse .]

1. (Zoology) A small species of antelope ( Rupicapra tragus ), living on the loftiest mountain ridges of Europe, as the Alps, Pyrenees, etc. It possesses remarkable agility, and is a favorite object of chase.

2. A soft leather made from the skin of the chamois, or from sheepskin, etc.; -- called also chamois leather , and chammy or shammy leather . See Shammy .

Chamomile Cham"o·mile noun (Botany) See Camomile .

Champ Champ (chămp) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Champed (chămt); present participle & verbal noun Champing .] [ Prob, of Scand. orgin; confer dial. Swedish kämsa to chew with difficulty, champ; but confer also Old French champier , champeyer , champoyer , to graze in fields, from French champ field, from Latin campus . Confer Camp .] 1. To bite with repeated action of the teeth so as to be heard.

Foamed and champed the golden bit.
Dryden.

2. To bite into small pieces; to crunch. Steele.

Champ Champ intransitive verb To bite or chew impatiently.

They began . . . irefully to champ upon the bit.
Hooker.

Champ, Champe Champ, Champe noun [ French champ , Latin campus field.] (Architecture) The field or ground on which carving appears in relief.

Champagne Cham·pagne" noun [ French See Champaign .] A light wine, of several kinds, originally made in the province of Champagne, in France.

» Champagne properly includes several kinds not only of sparkling but of still wines; but in America the term is usually restricted to wines which effervesce.

Champaign Cham·paign" noun [ Old French champaigne ; same word as campagne .] A flat, open country.

Fair champaign , with less rivers interveined.
Milton.

Through Apline vale or champaign wide.
Wordsworth.

Champaign Cham·paign" adjective Flat; open; level.

A wide, champaign country, filled with herds.
Addison.

Champer Champ"er noun One who champs, or bites.

Champertor Cham"per·tor noun [ French champarteur a divider of fields or field rent. See Champerty .] (Law) One guilty of champerty; one who purchases a suit, or the right of suing, and carries it on at his own expense, in order to obtain a share of the gain.

Champerty Cham"per·ty noun [ French champart field rent, Latin campipars ; champ (L. campus ) field + part (L. pars ) share.] 1. Partnership in power; equal share of authority. [ Obsolete]

Beauté ne sleighte, strengthe ne hardyness,
Ne may with Venus holde champartye .
Chaucer.

2. (Law) The prosecution or defense of a suit, whether by furnishing money or personal services, by one who has no legitimate concern therein, in consideration of an agreement that he shall receive, in the event of success, a share of the matter in suit; maintenance with the addition of an agreement to divide the thing in suit. See Maintenance .

» By many authorities champerty is defined as an agreement of this nature. From early times the offence of champerty has been forbidden and punishable.

Champignon Cham·pi"gnon noun [ French, a mushroom, ultimately from Latin campus field. See Camp .] (Botany) An edible species of mushroom ( Agaricus campestris ).

Fairy ring champignon , the Marasmius oreades , which has a strong flavor but is edible.

Champion Cham"pi·on (chăm"pĭ*ŭn) noun [ French champion , from Late Latin campio , of German origin; confer Old High German chempho , chemphio , fighter, champf , German kampf , contest; perhaps influenced by Latin campus field, taken in the sense of "field of battle."] 1. One who engages in any contest; esp. one who in ancient times contended in single combat in behalf of another's honor or rights; or one who now acts or speaks in behalf of a person or a cause; a defender; an advocate; a hero.

A stouter champion never handled sword.
Shak.

Champions of law and liberty.
Fisher Ames.

2. One who by defeating all rivals, has obtained an acknowledged supremacy in any branch of athletics or game of skill, and is ready to contend with any rival; as, the champion of England.

» Champion is used attributively in the sense of surpassing all competitors ; overmastering ; as, champion pugilist; champion chess player.

Syn. -- Leader; chieftain; combatant; hero; warrior; defender; protector.

Champion Cham"pi·on transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Championed ; present participle & verbal noun Championing .] [ Obsolete] Shak.

2. To furnish with a champion; to attend or defend as champion; to support or maintain; to protect.

Championed or unchampioned, thou diest.
Sir W. Scott.

Championness Cham"pi·on·ness noun A female champion. Fairfax.

Championship Cham"pi·on·ship noun State of being champion; leadership; supremacy.

Champlain period Cham·plain" pe"ri·od (Geol.) A subdivision of the Quaternary age immediately following the Glacial period; -- so named from beds near Lake Champlain.

» The earlier deposits of this period are diluvial in character, as if formed in connection with floods attending the melting of the glaciers, while the later deposits are of finer material in more quiet waters, as the alluvium.

Champlevé Champ`le·vé" adjective [ French, past participle of champlever to engrave. See 3d Champ , Camp , Lever a bar.] (Art) Having the ground engraved or cut out in the parts to be enameled; inlaid in depressions made in the ground; -- said of a kind of enamel work in which depressions made in the surface are filled with enamel pastes, which are afterward fired; also, designating the process of making such enamel work. -- noun A piece of champlevé enamel; also, the process or art of making such enamel work; champlevé work.

Chamsin Cham·sin" noun [ French] See Kamsin .

Chance Chance (chȧns) noun [ French chance , Old French cheance , from Late Latin cadentia a allusion to the falling of the dice), from Latin cadere to fall; akin to Sanskrit çad to fall, Latin cedere to yield, English cede . Confer Cadence .] 1. A supposed material or psychical agent or mode of activity other than a force, law, or purpose; fortune; fate; -- in this sense often personified.

It is strictly and philosophically true in nature and reason that there is no such thing as chance or accident; it being evident that these words do not signify anything really existing, anything that is truly an agent or the cause of any event; but they signify merely men's ignorance of the real and immediate cause.
Samuel Clark.

Any society into which chance might throw him.
Macaulay.

That power
Which erring men call Chance .
Milton.

2. The operation or activity of such agent.

By chance a priest came down that way.
Luke x. 31.

3. The supposed effect of such an agent; something that befalls, as the result of unknown or unconsidered forces; the issue of uncertain conditions; an event not calculated upon; an unexpected occurrence; a happening; accident; fortuity; casualty.

It was a chance that happened to us.
1 Sam. vi. 9.

The Knave of Diamonds tries his wily arts,
And wins (O shameful chance !) the Queen of Hearts.
Pope.

I spake of most disastrous chance .
Shak.

4. A possibility; a likelihood; an opportunity; -- with reference to a doubtful result; as, a chance to escape; a chance for life; the chances are all against him.

So weary with disasters, tugged with fortune.
That I would get my life on any chance ,
To mend it, or be rid on 't
Shak.

5. (Math.) Probability.

» The mathematical expression, of a chance is the ratio of frequency with which an event happens in the long run. If an event may happen in a ways and may fail in b ways, and each of these a + b ways is equally likely, the chance , or probability, that the event will happen is measured by the fraction a/ a + b , and the chance , or probability, that it will fail is measured by b/ a + b .

Chance comer , one who comes unexpectedly. -- The last chance , the sole remaining ground of hope. -- The main chance , the chief opportunity; that upon which reliance is had, esp. self-interest. -- Theory of chances , Doctrine of chances (Math.) , that branch of mathematics which treats of the probability of the occurrence of particular events, as the fall of dice in given positions. -- To mind one's chances , to take advantage of every circumstance; to seize every opportunity.

Chance Chance intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Chanced ; present participle & verbal noun Chancing .] To happen, come, or arrive, without design or expectation. "Things that chance daily." Robynson (More's Utopia).

If a bird's nest chance to be before thee.
Deut. xxii. 6.

I chanced on this letter.
Shak.

Often used impersonally; as, how chances it?

How chance , thou art returned so soon?
Shak.

Chance Chance transitive verb 1. To take the chances of; to venture upon; -- usually with it as object.

Come what will, I will chance it.
W. D. Howells.

2. To befall; to happen to. [ Obsolete] W. Lambarde.

Chance Chance adjective Happening by chance; casual.

Chance Chance adverb By chance; perchance. Gray.

Chance-medley Chance"-med`ley noun [ Chance + medley .] 1. (Law) The killing of another in self-defense upon a sudden and unpremeditated encounter. See Chaud-Medley .

» The term has been sometimes applied to any kind of homicide by misadventure, or to any accidental killing of a person without premeditation or evil intent, but, in strictness, is applicable to such killing as happens in defending one's self against assault. Bouvier.

2. Luck; chance; accident. Milton. Cowper.

Chanceable Chance"a·ble adjective Fortuitous; casual. [ Obsolete]

Chanceably Chance"a·bly adverb By chance. [ Obsolete]

Chanceful Chance"ful adjective Hazardous. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Chancel Chan"cel noun [ Old French chancel , French chanceau , cancel , from Latin cancelli lattices, crossbars. (The chancel was formerly inclosed with lattices or crossbars) See Cancel , transitive verb ] (Architecture) (a) That part of a church, reserved for the use of the clergy, where the altar, or communion table, is placed. Hence, in modern use; (b) All that part of a cruciform church which is beyond the line of the transept farthest from the main front.

Chancel aisle (Architecture) , the aisle which passes on either side of or around the chancel. -- Chancel arch (Architecture) , the arch which spans the main opening, leading to the chancel. -- Chancel casement , the principal window in a chancel. Tennyson . -- Chancel table , the communion table.

Chancellery Chan"cel·ler·y noun [ Confer Chancery .] Chancellorship. [ Obsolete] Gower.

Chancellor Chan"cel·lor noun [ Middle English canceler , chaunceler , French chancelier , Late Latin cancellarius chancellor, a director of chancery, from Latin cancelli lattices, crossbars, which surrounded the seat of judgment. See Chancel .] A judicial court of chancery, which in England and in the United States is distinctively a court with equity jurisdiction.

» The chancellor was originally a chief scribe or secretary under the Roman emperors, but afterward was invested with judicial powers, and had superintendence over the other officers of the empire. From the Roman empire this office passed to the church, and every bishop has his chancellor, the principal judge of his consistory. In later times, in most countries of Europe, the chancellor was a high officer of state, keeper of the great seal of the kingdom, and having the supervision of all charters, and like public instruments of the crown, which were authenticated in the most solemn manner. In France a secretary is in some cases called a chancellor . In Scotland, the appellation is given to the foreman of a jury, or assize. In the present German empire, the chancellor is the president of the federal council and the head of the imperial administration. In the United States, the title is given to certain judges of courts of chancery or equity, established by the statutes of separate States. Blackstone. Wharton.

Chancellor of a bishop, or of a diocese (R. C. Ch. & ch. of Eng.) , a law officer appointed to hold the bishop's court in his diocese, and to assist him in matter of ecclesiastical law. -- Chancellor of a cathedral , one of the four chief dignitaries of the cathedrals of the old foundation, and an officer whose duties are chiefly educational, with special reference to the cultivation of theology. -- Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster , an officer before whom, or his deputy, the court of the duchy chamber of Lancaster is held. This is a special jurisdiction. -- Chancellor of a university , the chief officer of a collegiate body. In Oxford, he is elected for life; in Cambridge, for a term of years; and his office is honorary, the chief duties of it devolving on the vice chancellor. -- Chancellor of the exchequer , a member of the British cabinet upon whom devolves the charge of the public income and expenditure as the highest finance minister of the government. -- Chancellor of the order of the Garter (or other military orders), an officer who seals the commissions and mandates of the chapter and assembly of the knights, keeps the register of their proceedings, and delivers their acts under the seal of their order. -- Lord high chancellor of England , the presiding judge in the court of chancery, the highest judicial officer of the crown, and the first lay person of the state after the blood royal. He is created chancellor by the delivery into his custody of the great seal, of which he becomes keeper. He is privy counselor by his office, and prolocutor of the House of Lords by prescription.

Chancellorship Chan"cel·lor·ship (chȧn"sĕl*lẽr*shĭp) noun The office of a chancellor; the time during which one is chancellor.

Chancery Chan"cer·y noun [ French chancellerie , Late Latin cancellaria , from Latin cancellarius . See Chancellor , and confer Chancellery .] 1. In England, formerly, the highest court of judicature next to the Parliament, exercising jurisdiction at law, but chiefly in equity; but under the jurisdiction act of 1873 it became the chancery division of the High Court of Justice, and now exercises jurisdiction only in equity.

2. In the Unites States, a court of equity; equity; proceeding in equity.

» A court of chancery, so far as it is a court of equity, in the English and American sense, may be generally, if not precisely, described as one having jurisdiction in cases of rights, recognized and protected by the municipal jurisprudence, where a plain, adequate, and complete remedy can not be had in the courts of common law. In some of the American States, jurisdiction at law and in equity centers in the same tribunal. The courts of the United States also have jurisdiction both at law and in equity, and in all such cases they exercise their jurisdiction, as courts of law, or as courts of equity, as the subject of adjudication may require. In others of the American States, the courts that administer equity are distinct tribunals, having their appropriate judicial officers, and it is to the latter that the appellation courts of chancery is usually applied; but, in American law, the terms equity and court of equity are more frequently employed than the corresponding terms chancery and court of chancery . Burrill.

Inns of chancery . See under Inn . -- To get ( or to hold) In chancery (Boxing) , to get the head of an antagonist under one's arm, so that one can pommel it with the other fist at will; hence, to have wholly in One's power. The allusion is to the condition of a person involved in the chancery court, where he was helpless, while the lawyers lived upon his estate.

Chancre Chan"cre noun [ French chancere . See Cancer .] (Medicine) A venereal sore or ulcer; specifically, the initial lesion of true syphilis, whether forming a distinct ulcer or not; -- called also hard chancre , indurated chancre , and Hunterian chancre .

Soft chancre . A chancroid. See Chancroid .

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