donjon C2+ Topic:Culture & History 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... keeptowerstrongholdcitadelfortress Word family Related forms dungeondominion Etymology AI details 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 Culture & History External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # 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 - Culture & History markdown