dungeon

American  

[duhn-juhn] / ˈdʌn dʒən /

noun

1. a strong, dark prison or cell, usually underground, as in a medieval castle.

2. the keep or stronghold of a castle; donjon.

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dungeon British  

/ ˈdʌndʒən /

noun

1. a close prison cell, often underground

2. a variant of donjon

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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

They then removed AI Dungeon from the platform.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 2026

I played Dungeon & Dragons with three incredible showrunners.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 25, 2026

At first glance, Netflix's popular Japanese animation Delicious in Dungeon is a strangely food-obsessed dungeon-crawler fantasy tale.

From Salon • Jul. 22, 2024

He said that he was surprised by the success of Dungeon, the first version of which was launched in 2019.

From BBC • May 2, 2024

Because at that moment, as I turned to go down the hall toward the Dungeon of Deadly Dullness that I was sure awaited me in Room 130 of that school, I was overfilled with misery.

From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan

Related Words

• torture chamber