chamberlain

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun An officer who manages the household of a sovereign or noble; a chief steward.
• noun A high-ranking official in various royal courts.
• noun An official who receives the rents and fees of a municipality; a treasurer.
• noun A papal gentleman. No longer in use.
• noun A camerlengo.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A person charged with the direction and management of a chamber or chambers.
• noun An officer charged with the direction and management of the private apartments of a monarch or nobleman. The lord great chamberlain of Great Britain is the sixth officer of the crown. His functions, always important, have varied in different reigns. The duties which now devolve upon him are the robing and attending on the king at his coronation; the care of the ancient palace of Westminster; the provision of furniture for the houses of Parliament, and for Westminster Hall when used on great occasions; and attending upon peers at their creation, and upon bishops when they perform their homage. The office is now jointly held by the families of Cholmondeley and Willoughby de Eresby, and the honors are enjoyed in each alternate reign by each family successively. The office of lord chamberlain of the household, generally called simply the lord chamberlain, is quite distinct from that of the lord great chamberlain, and is changed with the administration. This officer has the control of all parts of the household (except the ladies of the queen's bedchamber) which are not under the direction of the lord steward, the groom of the stole, or the master of the horse. The king's (queen's) chaplains, physicians, surgeons, etc., as well as the royal tradesmen, are in his appointment; the companies of actors at the royal theaters are under his regulation; and he is also the licenser of plays. He has under him a vice-chamberlain.
• noun Originally, the keeper of the treasure-chamber; hence, a receiver of rents and revenues; a treasurer: as, the chamberlain of a corporation.
• noun In Great Britain, the factor or high steward of a nobleman or great landed proprietor.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun An officer or servant who has charge of a chamber or chambers.
• noun obsolete An upper servant of an inn.
• noun 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.
• noun A treasurer or receiver of public money
• noun 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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun An officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign, especially in the United Kingdom and in Denmark.
• noun A high officer of state, as currently with the papal camerlengo, but normally now a mainly honorary title.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun British statesman who as Prime Minister pursued a policy of appeasement toward fascist Germany (1869-1940)
• noun the treasurer of a municipal corporation
• noun an officer who manages the household of a king or nobleman