dungeon
/ˈdʌn.d͡ʒən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.57 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An underground prison or vault, typically built underneath a castle.
noun
An area inhabited by enemies, containing story objectives, treasure, and bosses.
noun
Example Sentences
- "Year after year he lay patiently in a dungeon."
- "They could still hear him for some time shouting out things about having the law of them while being bounced down to the deepest dungeon of the castle."
- "Of every act of severity, of every bold violation of the constitution, of every bill for dungeoning and gagging the people, of every tax, of every loan, of all that set frugality at defiance, and that mocked at mercy, these men had been either the authors or the most strenuous supporters […]"
Etymology
From Middle English dongeoun (“keep of a castle; dungeon; abyss, cave, den; whirlpool”), from Anglo-Norman donjun (“keep of a castle; keep used as a prison; dungeon”) and continental Old French donjon (“keep of a castle”), from Vulgar Latin *dominiōnem, seemingly derived from Latin dominus (“master, lord”) perhaps via some figurative sense like “dominant building”. Doublet of donjon. The sense of “prison (associated with a castle)”, first attested in Anglo-Norman (13th c.) and apparently never in continental Old French, likely developed in combination with Old English dung (“underground prison cell”), whence Middle English donge (“pit, abyss”, senses that are also attested for Middle English dongeoun). The game term has been popularized by Dungeons & Dragons.