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I am looking for the right term for... well, like an air lock on a space station, but for an underwater station. You open the outer hatch, get in, close the hatch, water gets pumped out, you open the inner hatch.

The German word for it would be "Schleuse", but the English "sluice" seems to be limited to the use in waterways (where "Schleuse" would also be correct). "Water lock" seems to be sanitary in nature.

I have this feeling as if I should know the English term, but I really cannot figure it out...

DevSolar
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    it's still airlock...because the aim is to keep the air inside "locked" whatever's outside: void, water or Jello – P. O. Feb 15 '18 at 11:20
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    P.O is right. It still remains airlock. You can use 'underwater airlock' or 'floodable airlock'. – Kshitij Feb 15 '18 at 11:23
  • @P.O.: Thanks... make that into an answer and I close this with a checkmark. (Or should I delete the question because it's so basic?) – DevSolar Feb 15 '18 at 11:26
  • @AndyT: Whatever you think is most appropriate. I'm just an occasional visitor to english.SE, and each SE has it's own flavor of what's "proper". I bow to your judgement. ;-) – DevSolar Feb 15 '18 at 11:57
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    It's a good question and on-topic for EL&U. I'd be happy for this question to remain open. – Lawrence Feb 15 '18 at 13:48
  • I just realized I even got the German words a bit mixed up. Of course it's a "Luftschleuse" both in space and under water... but sometimes it's like that, your brain's language section completely shutting down on you... – DevSolar Feb 15 '18 at 13:50
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    and the term 'lock' comes from the adjustment of water levels in canals. cf. 'lake' – AmI Feb 15 '18 at 18:14
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    This isn't the same as an airlock but something you could have underwater but not in space is a Moon Pool aka Wet Porch. – Amicable Feb 16 '18 at 15:02

3 Answers3

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The answer is... airlock:

an airtight chamber permitting passage to or from a space, as in a caisson, in which the air is kept under pressure

It's the fact that there is pressurised air inside the "space" that makes it an air lock, not what is outside the "space". "Space" here being a space station, or a submarine, or a plane; and the outside being a vacuum, water, or low pressure air respectively.

AndyT
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    The OED's first citation is from 1840; "a l is an air-lock [in a submarine], into which the men enter to pass up to d a". – Tim Lymington Feb 15 '18 at 13:13
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    Yes, the aerospace term was inherited from the marine term, like aviation borrowed "fin". "Space" in the OED definition refers to (naval term) ship's spaces, not spaaaaaaaace like outer space. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Feb 15 '18 at 23:43
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    If it was the space that made it be called an air lock then wouldn't it be called a space lock? – user253751 Feb 16 '18 at 00:25
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    @immibis: "Space" in this answer refers to an enclosed place, not to outer space. In your hypothetical, we would call it a vacuum lock. – Tim Sparkles Feb 16 '18 at 21:12
  • @Timbo Space in my comment refers to outer space, not to an enclosed place. – user253751 Feb 18 '18 at 20:17
  • You voted to reopen this question because...? The answer was posted immediately in the comments, a good thirty minutes before yours, the same answer which the OP unwittingly supplied. – Mari-Lou A Feb 19 '18 at 10:07
  • @Mari-LouA - Because: 1. I don't think it was that obvious to the OP: If the question was "What's the word for something like a knife but about 10 times bigger?" - You wouldn't think that looking up "knife" int he dictionary would help you find "sword". 2. Who cares about comments? Nearly any question could be answered in the comments. Writing an answer allows more detail: the explanation that it's what's inside not outside that makes it an airlock. 3. It takes 5 people to reopen a question, I'm not the only one who thinks it's a good one. [cont.] – AndyT Feb 19 '18 at 10:15
  • [cont.] It shouldn't be surprising that someone who thinks that a question is worth answering is worth being open. – AndyT Feb 19 '18 at 10:19
  • There is no other alternative answer though, is there? I tend to think that questions should be left open for newer (and one hopes, better) answers. A closed question does not mean answers and questions stop being helpful. useful or cannot be voted upon. – Mari-Lou A Feb 19 '18 at 10:21
  • @Mari-LouA - Since when did "Closed" mean "This question is fine but we're not welcoming new answers"? Closed means "This question is not suitable for this site". – AndyT Feb 19 '18 at 11:32
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You could say 'watertight chamber'.

gongong
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    That customarily refers to separated segments below the waterline of a surface ship, meant to prevent a hull beach in one from flooding the entire ship and sinking it. For example, the Titanic was hyped as "unsinkable" because it had 16 watertight chambers – unfortunately, six of them flooded, which was more than the design limit for the ship. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/sinking-of-the-titanic/ – Steve Feb 16 '18 at 08:21
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A related term is vestibule, which is a term for a specific place in Christian Church, but has become a general term for the space between the exterior door and an interior door. These areas are somewhat like an air lock, in that they transition between interior and exterior spaces. In this case, comfortable interior temperatures vs hot or cold outside temperatures. Most often seen in public and commercial spaces.

AndyT
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Jeff Sacksteder
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