Dungeon - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

dun·geon

Audio Help [duhn-juh

n] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a strong, dark prison or cell, usually underground, as in a medieval castle.

2.	the keep or stronghold of a castle; donjon.

[Origin: 1250–1300; ME dungeo(u)n, dongeoun, dungun < MF donjon < VL *domniōn- (s. of *domniō) keep, mastery, syncopated var. of *dominiōn- dominion

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Dungeon

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

dun·geon Audio Help (dŭn'jən) Pronunciation Key
n.

A dark, often underground chamber or cell used to confine prisoners.
A donjon.

[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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
dungeon

c.1300, from O.Fr. donjon "great tower of a castle," from Gallo-Romance *dominionem, from L.L. dominium, from L. dominus "master" (of the castle; see domain). Sense of "castle keep" led to "strong (underground) cell" in Eng. pre-1338.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

dungeon
noun
1.	the main tower within the walls of a medieval castle or fortress [syn: keep]
2.	a dark cell (usually underground) where prisoners can be confined

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
dungeon [ˈdandʒən] noun

a dark underground prison

Arabic:	سِجْن تَحْت الأرْض
Chinese (Simplified):	地牢
Chinese (Traditional):	地牢
Czech:	žalář
Danish:	fangehul
Dutch:	kerker
Estonian:	vangikoobas
Finnish:	vankityrmä
French:	cachot (souterrain)
German:	das Burgverlies
Greek:	μπουντρούμι
Hungarian:	(föld alatti) (vár)börtön
Icelandic:	dÿflissa
Indonesian:	penjara bawah tanah
Italian:	prigione sotterranea*

Japanese:	地下ろう
Korean:	지하 감옥
Latvian:	(pazemes) cietums
Lithuanian:	kalėjimo rūsys
Norwegian:	fangekjeller, *-hull
Polish:	loch
Portuguese (Brazil):	calabouço
Portuguese (Portugal):	masmorra
Romanian:	carceră subterană
Russian:	темница
Slovak:	žalár
Slovenian:	(podzemeljska) ječa
Spanish:	calabozo, mazmorra
Swedish:	fängelsehåla
Turkish:	zindan

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

Dungeon
Zork

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Dungeon

Dame\ (d[=a]m), n. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam a mother, Dan, Danger, Dungeon, Dominie, Don, n., Duenna.]

1. A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a woman in authority; especially, a lady.

Then shall these lords do vex me half so much, As that proud dame, the lord protector's wife. --Shak.

2. The mistress of a family in common life, or the mistress of a common school; as, a dame's school.

In the dame's classes at the village school. --Emerson.

3. A woman in general, esp. an elderly woman.

4. A mother; -- applied to human beings and quadrupeds. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Dungeon

Dan"ger\, n. [OE. danger, daunger, power, arrogance, refusal, difficulty, fr. OF. dagier, dongier (with same meaning), F. danger danger, fr. an assumed LL. dominiarium power, authority, from L. dominium power, property. See Dungeon, Domain, Dame.]

1. Authority; jurisdiction; control. [Obs.]

In dangerhad he . . . the young girls. --Chaucer.

2. Power to harm; subjection or liability to penalty. [Obs.] See In one's danger, below.

You stand within his danger, do you not? --Shak.

Covetousness of gains hath brought [them] in dangerof this statute. --Robynson (More's Utopia).

3. Exposure to injury, loss, pain, or other evil; peril; risk; insecurity.

4. Difficulty; sparingness. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

5. Coyness; disdainful behavior. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

In one's danger, in one's power; liable to a penalty to be inflicted by him. [Obs.] This sense is retained in the proverb, "Out of debt out of danger."

Those rich man in whose debt and danger they be not. --Robynson (More's Utopia).

To do danger, to cause danger. [Obs.] --Shak.

Syn: Peril; hazard; risk; jeopardy.

Usage: Danger, Peril, Hazard, Risk, Jeopardy. Danger is the generic term, and implies some contingent evil in prospect. Peril is instant or impending danger; as, in peril of one's life. Hazard arises from something fortuitous or beyond our control; as, the hazard of the seas. Risk is doubtful or uncertain danger, often incurred voluntarily; as, to risk an engagement. Jeopardy is extreme danger. Danger of a contagious disease; the perils of shipwreck; the hazards of speculation; the risk of daring enterprises; a life brought into jeopardy.

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