donjon

English

Etymology

A variant of dungeon remodelled on its etymon, Old French donjon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdʌn.d͡ʒən/

• Audio (Southern England):

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• Audio (US):

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• Audio (Southern England):

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Noun

donjon (plural donjons)

1. The fortified tower and main residence of a motte or early castle; a keep.
   • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter VII, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume II, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 106:

     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.

   • 2007, Michael Chabon, Gentlemen of the Road, Sceptre, published 2008, page 132:

     […] the prison fortress called Qomr, a mound of yellowish brick rising up from the left back of the turbid river, in whose donjon by long tradition the warlord was obliged to lay his head.

Related terms

• dungeon

Translations

fortified tower — see keep

Dutch

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:

donjon

Wikipedia ^nl

Etymology

From French donjon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɔnˈʒɔn/, [dɔ̃ˈʒɔ̃], [dɔnˈʒɔn]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: don‧jon
• Rhymes: -ɔn

Noun

donjon m (plural donjons, diminutive donjonnetje n)

1. donjon, keep

Synonyms

• slottoren

French

Etymology

From Old French donjon, from Vulgar Latin *dominiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɔ̃.ʒɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Noun

donjon m (plural donjons)

1. donjon, keep

Descendants

• → Dutch: donjon
• → Italian: dongione
• → Romanian: donjon

References

• “donjon”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle English

Noun

donjon

1. alternative form of dongeoun