[duhn-juh
n] 
| 1. | a strong, dark prison or cell, usually underground, as in a medieval castle. |
| 2. | the keep or stronghold of a castle; donjon. |
| dun·geon (dŭn'jən) n.
[Middle English donjon, castle keep, dungeon, from Old French, keep, probably from Medieval Latin domniō, domniōn-, 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, domniō, 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
Zork
Dungeon
different from the ordinary prison in being more severe as a place of punishment. Like the Roman inner prison (Acts 16:24), it consisted of a deep cell or cistern (Jer. 38:6). To be shut up in, a punishment common in Egypt (Gen. 39:20; 40:3; 41:10; 42:19). It is not mentioned, however, in the law of Moses as a mode of punishment. Under the later kings imprisonment was frequently used as a punishment (2 Chron. 16:10; Jer. 20:2; 32:2; 33:1; 37:15), and it was customary after the Exile (Matt. 11:2; Luke 3:20; Acts 5:18, 21; Matt. 18:30).
