dungeon
Americannoun
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a strong, dark prison or cell, usually underground, as in a medieval castle.
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the keep or stronghold of a castle; donjon.
noun
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a close prison cell, often underground
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a variant of donjon
Etymology
Origin of dungeon
1250–1300; Middle English dungeo ( u ) n, dongeoun, dungun < Middle French donjon < Vulgar Latin *domniōn- (stem of *domniō ) keep, mastery, syncopated variant of *dominiōn- dominion
Explanation
That dank, stone-walled underground prison where wretched prisoners were kept manacled in medieval days? That was a dungeon, otherwise known as the "keep," and most familiar to us today from a million video games and movies. In fact, the original meaning of dungeon was of something overground rather than underground, coming from the Old French term donjon, meaning the "great tower of a castle," and the underground meaning only came later. Rapunzel in the fairy tale was held captive in a tower rather than an underground cell and if she hadn't been, her long hair wouldn't have been much help in her escape.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And somewhere deeper still, a dwarf is gently stirring hot pot in a dungeon, seasoning monsters like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
From Salon • May 12, 2025
At least two other Texas prisons, the Gib Lewis Unit and the John B. Connally Unit, have their own version of the dungeon.
From Slate • Oct. 20, 2024
Not another cooking game, but instead a new take on a dungeon crawler where you can team up with your friends to survive in a twisted reality show competition.
From BBC • Aug. 21, 2024
When Supergiant Games was wrapping up Hades, a mythologically rich hack-and-slash dungeon crawler it had spent more than three years developing, the studio concluded it was not quite done.
From New York Times • May 13, 2024
He seized his dragon-skin briefcase, stuffed his handkerchief back into his pocket, and marched to the dungeon door.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
