donjon

English

Etymology

From Old French donjon.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɒndʒən/

Noun

donjon (plural donjons)

1. The fortified tower of a motte or early castle; a keep.
   • 2007, Michael Chabon, Gentlemen of the Road, Sceptre 2008, p. 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.

   • 1819, Walter Scott, Ivanhoe:

     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.

Translations

fortified tower — see keep

Related terms

• dungeon

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Dutch

Etymology

From Old French donjon.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: don‧jon

Noun

donjon m (plural donjons, diminutive donjonnetje n)

1. donjon, keep

Synonyms

• slottoren

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French

Etymology

From Middle French, from Old French donjon, dongon (“castle keep”), from Frankish *dungjo, *dunjon- (“dungeon, bower, underground cellar”), from Proto-Germanic *dungijǭ, *dungō (“enclosed space, vault, bower, treasury”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰengʰ- (“to cover”). Cognate with Old English dung (“prison, dungeon”), Old Saxon dung (“underground cellar”), Old High German tung (“underground cellar”), Old Norse dyngja (“a lady's bower”). More at dung.

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɔ̃.ʒɔ̃/

Noun

donjon m (plural donjons)

1. donjon, keep

Further reading

• “donjon” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Old French

Noun

donjon m (oblique plural donjons, nominative singular donjons, nominative plural donjon)

1. Alternative form of donjun
   • 12^th Century, Béroul, Tristan et Iseut (in Old French):

     Li chiens gardoit par le donjon.

     The dog was guarding the dungeon.