Dictionary

ventricle en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• vĕnʹtrĭk-əl
• /ˈvɛn.tɹɪk.əl/

Etymology

From late Middle English, from Latin ventriculus (“the belly”), diminutive of venter (“the belly”). Doublet of ventriculus.

Meanings

1. Any small cavity within a body; a hollow part or organ, especially: ▸ One of two lower chambers of the heart.
   • “It gave me the wrong one. I thought, wow, if a heart surgeon was using AI to find the lower ventricle… what sort of world would we be living in?” 2026 June 21, Annabel Nugent, quoting Anthony Horowitz, “The authors who admit to using AI: ‘I have absolutely no shame about it’”, in The Independent:
   • The muscular ventricles pump blood by contracting their fibers in response to electrical stimulation. 2018, Sandeep Jauhar, Heart: a History, →ISBN, page 47:
2. Any small cavity within a body; a hollow part or organ, especially: ▸ One of four fluid-filled cavities in the brain, that are continuous with the central canal of the spinal cord.
   • the ventricle of memory c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:
3. (archaic) Any small cavity within a body; a hollow part or organ, especially: ▸ A ventriculus; especially, a stomach.
   • [On birds] Where omitting the more general Properties, of having two Ventricles, and picking up stones to conveigh them into their second Ventricle, the Gizzern, (which provision and instinct is a supply for the want of teeth;) […] 1662, Henry More, An Antidote Against Atheism, Book II: A Collection of Several Philosophical Writings of Dr. Henry More, page 72:
4. (archaic) Any small cavity within a body; a hollow part or organ, especially: ▸ The womb.

Forms

Coordinates

atrium

Deriveds

ventriculate · midventricle · ventriculo- · ventricular · ventricul-

Meronyms

third ventricle · left ventricle · right ventricle · lateral ventricle · fourth ventricle

Relateds

intraventricular · ventriculus · ventriculated · interventricular

Synonyms

cerebroventricle · cardioventricle

Translations (57)

id ventrikel (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · sv hjärtkammare (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · ar بُطَيْن (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · ms bilik jantung (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · ko 뇌실 (one of the cavities of the brain) · uk шлу́ночок (one of the cavities of the brain) · fi kammio (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · sv kammare (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · ca ventricle (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · vi tâm thất (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · grc κοιλία (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · ja 心室 (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · sq barkushe (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · sv ventrikel (one of the cavities of the brain) · grc κοιλία (one of the cavities of the brain) · cmn 腦室 /脑室 (one of the cavities of the brain) · nl hartkamer (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · ru желудочек (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · pl komora (one of the cavities of the brain) · id bilik jantung (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · da hjertekammer (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · fi aivokammio (one of the cavities of the brain) · ms ventrikel (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · mn ᠬᠣᠪᠳᠤᠯ (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · hu kamra (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · la ventriculus (one of the cavities of the brain) · fi sydänkammio (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · az mədəcik (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · pl komora (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · la ventriculus (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · fa بطن (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · es ventrículo (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · nl ventrikel (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · de Herzkammer (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · el κοιλία (one of the cavities of the brain) · yue 心室 (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · cs komora (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · kmr zikok (one of the cavities of the brain) · ko 심실 (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · el κοιλία (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · mn ховдол (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · hy փորոք (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · kk қарынша (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · uk шлу́ночок (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · pt ventrículo (one of the cavities of the brain) · sv ventrikel (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · kmr zikoke (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · it ventricolo (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · bg камера (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · cmn 心室 (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · tl silid-tibukan (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · he חדר (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · pt ventrículo (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · mi anaroro (one of the cavities of the brain) · ca ventricle (one of the cavities of the brain) · da ventrikel (one of two lower chambers of the heart) · ka პარკუჭი (one of two lower chambers of the heart)