dungeon

Meanings

Noun

• An underground prison or vault, typically built underneath a castle.
• The main tower of a motte or castle; a keep or donjon.
• A shrewd person.
• An area inhabited by enemies, containing story objectives, treasure and bosses.
• A room dedicated to sadomasochistic sexual activity.

Verb

• To imprison in a dungeon.

Related

Narrower meaning words

• oubliette

Origin

• From Middle English dungeon, dungeoun, dongoun, dungoun, dungun.
• The Middle English word is apparently a merger of Old French donjon and Old English dung, which supplied the current sense of the word. Old French donjon may itself be a conflation of Vulgar Latin *domnione (from Late Latin *dominiōnem, from Latin dominium and Frankish *dungijā. Compare Middle English dung, dong
• Both the Frankish and Old English words derive from Proto-Germanic *dungijǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰengʰ-, and are related to Old Saxon dung, Middle Dutch donc, Old High German tung (whence German Tunk), Old Norse dyngja; whence Icelandic dyngja). See also dung, dingle.
• The game term has been popularized by Dungeons & Dragons.