The amount that can fit inside a chest or trunk, used as a unit of measurement for capacity.
From 'chest' (a storage box, from Old English 'cest') combined with '-ful,' a productive suffix meaning 'the amount needed to fill.' Similar to 'handful,' 'spoonful,' and 'cupful.'
Words ending in '-ful' are wonderfully practical—instead of saying 'the amount of stuff that fits in a chest,' you just say 'chestful,' which is why English has thousands of these handy little measurement words.
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