donjon

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈdɑndʒən/ UK /ˈdɒndʒən/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like dungeon /ʌ/ vs /ɑ/

Meanings

1

noun
the great central tower or keep of a medieval castle

Prisoners were held in the lightless depths of the donjon.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the great central tower or... keep tower stronghold citadel fortress

Word family

Related forms dungeon dominion

Simplified etymology

Donjon is the modern spelling generally used for one of the original 14th-century senses of dungeon: the great tower or keep of a castle. Its core meaning was “lord’s tower,” and it ultimately goes back to Latin dominus, “lord” or “master.”

Etymology

From Old French donjon ('castle keep'), from Vulgar Latin *dominionem, from Latin dominus ('lord, master'); a doublet of 'dungeon'.

donjon Old French dominus Latin domus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# donjon

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈdɑndʒən/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈdɒndʒən/

## Meanings
1. the great central tower or keep of a medieval castle

## Examples
- Prisoners were held in the lightless depths of the donjon.

## Synonyms
- keep
- tower
- stronghold
- citadel
- fortress

## Related Forms
- dungeon
- dominion

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: donjon
- Root: dominus
- Root: domus

## Etymology
From Old French donjon ('castle keep'), from Vulgar Latin *dominionem, from Latin dominus ('lord, master'); a doublet of 'dungeon'.

## AI Etymology
Donjon is from Old French donjon ('castle keep'), from Vulgar Latin *dominionem, from Latin dominus ('lord, master'); a doublet of 'dungeon'. The ancestry passes through Old French donjon, Latin dominus, and Latin domus. In present use as a noun, it means "the great central tower or keep of a medieval castle", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include dungeon and dominion. The surrounding word family keeps the same base visible in dungeon and dominion, showing how the headword belongs to a larger cluster rather than standing alone.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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