English

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

See also

• dungeon

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: don‧jon

Etymology

From Old French donjon.

Noun

donjon m ‎(plural donjons, diminutive donjonnetje n)

1. donjon, keep

Synonyms

• slottoren

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): /dɔ̃ʒɔ̃/

Noun

donjon m ‎(plural donjons)

1. donjon, keep

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:

     Li chiens gardoit par le donjon.

     The dog was guarding the dungeon.