dungeon
UK: ˈdʌn.dʒən | US: ˈdʌn.dʒən
n. 1. A dark, underground prison or cell, typically beneath a castle.
n. 2. (In games/fantasy) A labyrinthine area filled with monsters and treasures.
The word "dungeon" traces back to Old French donjon, meaning "keep" or "main tower of a castle." Over time, its meaning shifted from a fortified tower to an underground prison, likely due to the grim conditions of such spaces in medieval castles. The morpheme dung (from Latin dominus, "lord") originally referred to the lord's tower, while eon is a simplified suffix. The modern association with dark, confined spaces reflects both historical reality and later literary/gaming tropes.
The prisoners were kept in a damp dungeon beneath the castle.
In the game, our party explored a dungeon full of traps and skeletons.
The knight rescued the princess from the dragon’s dungeon.
Historians studied the dungeon’s architecture to learn about medieval justice.
The dungeon’s walls were covered in ancient graffiti.