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dungeon

   Also found in: Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
dun·geon  (dnjn)
n.
1. A dark, often underground chamber or cell used to confine prisoners.
2. A donjon.

[Middle English donjon, castle keep, dungeon, from Old French, keep, probably from Medieval Latin domni, domnin-, the lord's tower, from Latin dominus, master; see dem- in Indo-European roots.]
Word History: The word dungeon may have gone down in the world quite literally, if one etymology of the word is correct. Dungeon may go back to a Medieval Latin word, domni, meaning "the lord's tower," which came from Latin dominus, "master." In Middle English, in which our word is first recorded in a work composed around the beginning of the 14th century, it meant "a fortress, castle" and "the keep of a castle," as well as "a prison cell underneath the keep of the castle." Dungeon can still mean "keep," although the usual spelling for this sense is donjon, but the meaning most usually associated with it is certainly not elevated. It is also possible that dungeon goes back to a Germanic word related to our word dung. This assumed Germanic word would have meant "an underground house constructed of dung." If this etymology is correct, the word dungeon has ended up where it began.

dungeon [ˈdʌndʒən]
n
1. (Miscellaneous Technologies / Building) a close prison cell, often underground
2. (Military / Fortifications) a variant of donjon
[from Old French donjon; related to Latin dominus master]
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.dungeondungeon - the main tower within the walls of a medieval castle or fortress
castle - a large building formerly occupied by a ruler and fortified against attack
stronghold, fastness - a strongly fortified defensive structure
2.dungeon - a dark cell (usually underground) where prisoners can be confined
jail cell, prison cell, cell - a room where a prisoner is kept
oubliette - a dungeon with the only entrance or exit being a trap door in the ceiling

dungeon
noun prison, cell, cage, vault, lockup, oubliette, calaboose (U.S. informal), donjon the ceiling of the tiny dungeon
Translations
dungeon [ˈdʌndʒən] Ncalabozo m, mazmorra f

dungeon [ˈdʌndʒən] ncachot m

dungeon
nVerlies nt, → Kerker m

dungeon [ˈdʌndʒn] nsegreta, prigione f sotterranea
dungeon [ˈdʌndʒn] nsegreta, prigione f sotterranea

dungeon
n dungeon [ˈdandʒən]
a dark underground prison. kerker سِجْن تَحْت الأرْض тъмница žalář fangehul das Burgverlies μπουντρούμι calabozo, mazmorra vangikoobas زندان زیرزمینی tyrmä cachot (souterrain) צִינוֹק भूमिगत अंधेरा कारागार tamnica (föld alatti) (vár)börtön penjara bawah tanah dÿflissa prigione sotterranea 地下ろう 지하 감옥 kalėjimo rūsys (pazemes) cietums penjara bawah tanah kerker fangekjeller/-hull loch masmorra carceră subterană темница žalár (podzemeljska) ječa tamnica fängelsehåla คุกใต้ดิน zindan 地牢 підземна в'язниця; темниця زمیں دوز ، تاریک قید خانہ hầm tối

dungeon برج محصن žalář hule Kerker μπουντρούμι mazmorra vankiluola donjon tamnica prigione sotterranea 地下牢 지하 감옥 kerker fangehull loch masmorra темница fängelsehåla คุกใต้ดินในปราสาท zindan ngục tối 地牢


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The dungeon had only one little window, high up in the wall, with bars in it; and the door was strong and thick.
It has been used as a prison for political offenders for two or three hundred years, and its dungeon walls are scarred with the rudely carved names of many and many a captive who fretted his life away here and left no record of himself but these sad epitaphs wrought with his own hands.
So the Delegation was cast into the deepest dungeon beneath the moat, where it maintained a divided mind for many weeks, but finally reconciled its differences and asked to be taken before the New President.
 
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