Wiktionary

dungeon

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English dongeoun (“keep of a castle; dungeon; abyss, cave, den; whirlpool”), from Anglo-Norman donjun (“keep of a castle; keep used as a prison; dungeon”)[1][2] and continental Old French donjon (“keep of a castle”), from Vulgar Latin *dominiōnem, seemingly derived from Latin dominus (“master, lord”) perhaps via some figurative sense like “dominant building”. Doublet of donjon. The sense of “prison (associated with a castle)”, first attested in Anglo-Norman (13th c.) and apparently never in continental Old French, likely developed in combination with Old English dung (“underground prison cell”), whence Middle English donge (“pit, abyss” - senses that are also attested for Middle English dongeoun).

The game term has been popularized by Dungeons & Dragons.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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dungeon (plural dungeons)

  1. An underground prison or vault, typically built underneath a castle.
  2. The low area between two drumlins.
  3. (obsolete) The main tower of a motte or castle; a keep or donjon.
  4. (obsolete) A shrewd person.
  5. (roleplaying games) An area inhabited by enemies, containing story objectives, treasure, and bosses.
  6. (BDSM) A room dedicated to sadomasochistic sexual activity.

Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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dungeon (third-person singular simple present dungeons, present participle dungeoning, simple past and past participle dungeoned)

  1. (transitive) To imprison in a dungeon.
    • 1830, William Cobbett, History of the Regency and Reign of King George the Fourth:
      Of every act of severity, of every bold violation of the constitution, of every bill for dungeoning and gagging the people, of every tax, of every loan, of all that set frugality at defiance, and that mocked at mercy, these men had been either the authors or the most strenuous supporters […]

References

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  1. ^ “dungeon, n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
  2. ^ “dǒnǧǒun, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Middle English

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Noun

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dungeon

  1. Alternative form of dongeoun
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