\Star"-cham`ber\, n. [So called (as conjectured by
Blackstone) from being held in a room at the Exchequer where
the chests containing certain Jewish comtracts and
obligations called starrs (from the Heb. shetar, pron. shtar)
were kept; or from the stars with which the ceiling is
supposed to have been decorated.] (Eng. Hist.)
An ancient high court exercising jurisdiction in certain
cases, mainly criminal, which sat without the intervention of
a jury. It consisted of the king's council, or of the privy
council only with the addition of certain judges. It could
proceed on mere rumor or examine witnesses; it could apply
torture. It was abolished by the Long Parliament in 1641.
--Encyc. Brit.