Dictionary Definition

donjon n : the main tower within the walls of a medieval castle or fortress [syn: keep, dungeon]

User Contributed Dictionary

From Old (and modern) French donjon.

/ˈdɒnʤən/

The fortified tower of a motte or early castle; a keep.
- 1819: It was a fortress of no great size, consisting of a donjon, or large and high square tower, surrounded by buildings of inferior height, which were encircled by an inner court-yard. — Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

Old French, from Vulgar Latin *dominio ‘lord's castle’, from Latin dominus.

/dɔ̃ʒɔ̃/

fr-noun m

A dungeon is an underground prison or vault.

Dungeon or donjon can also refer to:

Dungeon (comics), a series of comic books created by Joann Sfar and Lewis Trondheim, originally published under the French title Donjon.
Dungeon (computer game), an early mainframe role-playing game
Dungeon, an alternative name for Zork, a computer game
Dungeons & Dragons, a popular role-playing game
- Dungeon (magazine)
- Dungeon!, a board game published by TSR, Inc. in 1975, as a product of Dungeons & Dragons
Donjon (role-playing game)
Dungeon crawl, a popular style of play in role-playing games
Dungeon (band), an Australian power metal musical group
Dungeon (BDSM), a play-space for BDSM activities
Hart Dungeon, a wrestling school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
The central tower of a castle, the strongest inner fortification; see Keep.

donjon in German: Dungeon

donjon in French: Donjon (homonymie)

donjon in Italian: Dungeon