dungeon
dungeon Lexical Profile
dungeon Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A strong, dark underground prison cell or vault, especially one located beneath a medieval castle.
"The tourists descended a narrow spiral staircase to tour the damp dungeon beneath the ancient fortress."
In fantasy role-playing and video games, an enclosed, labyrinthine environment or subterranean level filled with puzzles, traps, and monsters for players to explore.
"Our party spent three hours clearing the final dungeon to recover the legendary artifact."
Historically, the main keep or fortified central tower of a medieval castle.
"From the top of the stone dungeon, the garrison could survey the entire surrounding valley."
• verb
To confine or imprison someone in or as if in a dungeon.
"In the historical novel, the usurper dungeoned his political rivals beneath the palace."
• Rhymes for dungeon
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Old French 'donjon', meaning the great keep or principal tower of a castle, which itself derives from Medieval Latin 'domnio' (domain or lord's tower), from Latin 'dominus' (lord or master). Because prisoners were often held in the vaulted cellars beneath a castle keep, the English word shifted from the high tower to the dark subterranean cell.