dungeon Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the main tower within the walls of a medieval castle or fortress
    donjon; keep.
  2. noun a dark cell (usually underground) where prisoners can be confined

WordNet

Dun"geon noun
Etymology
OE. donjoun highest tower of a castle, tower, prison, F. donjon tower or platform in the midst of a castle, turret, or closet on the top of a house, a keep of a castle, LL. domnio, the same word as LL. dominus lord. See Dame, Don, and cf. Dominion, Domain, Demesne, Danger, Donjon.
Definitions
  1. A close, dark prison, common, under ground, as if the lower apartments of the donjon or keep of a castle, these being used as prisons.
    Down with him even into the deep dungeon. Tyndale.
    Year after year he lay patiently in a dungeon. Macaulay.
Dun"geon transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To shut up in a dungeon. Bp. Hall.

Webster 1913