▪ I. dungeon, n.
(ˈdʌndʒən)
Forms: α. 4–5 dongeoun, -goun, -gon, -gen, -gyn, doun-, dungoun, Sc. dwngeoune, -geown, downgeowne, 4–6 dongeon, dungion, 5–6 doungeon, -gen, 6 dongion, -gyon, 4– dungeon. β. 4–9 Donjon (4 dunjon, 4–5 donjoun(e, 9 donjeon).
[a. F. donjon (12th c. in Littré), in OF. also danjon, dangon = Pr. donjon, dompnhon:—late L. domniōn-em in same sense, f. domnus (for dominus) lord; thus essentially a doublet of dominion.]
1. The great tower or keep of a castle, situated in the innermost court or bailey. (To this the archaic spelling donjon is now usually appropriated.)
| α 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 224 Bath the castell and the dwngeoune. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 937 Dido, The noble tour of Ylion That of the citee was the cheef dungeon. c 1430 Lydg. Bochas i. iii. (1544) 6 a, A thousand arblastes, bent in his doungeoun. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon i. 23 Lohier..mounted vp vnto the dongeon of the castell. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 288 Come on Sirs, ye shal enter into the Dungeon, for then shall ye be sure to be Lordes of the Castell. 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4164/3 The Governor..retired into the Dungeon, which is a small Fort within the great one. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian vii, The keep or dungeon of the ancient fort. |
| β a 1300 Cursor M. 9926 Þe thrid [colur]..castes lem ouer al sa bright, þat reches to þe dunjon light. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 121 Steuen..did reise in þat coste a stalworth donjon. 1475 Bk. Noblesse 12 The castelle and donjoune held still. 1678 tr. Gaya's Art of War ii. 116 Donjon, a place of Retreat in a Town or Place, to capitulate in with greater security in case of Extremity. 1691 Lond. Gaz. No. 2727/2 After this we fixed our Miners to the Donjon or Tower within the Castle. 1813 Scott Trierm. ii. x, Nor tower nor donjon could he spy. 1894 Baring-Gould Deserts S. France II. xvi. 38 A cylindrical donjon, with ancient buildings grouped about it. |
b. More fully,
donjon- (dungeon-) keep,
dungeon-tower.
| 1808 Scott Marm. i. i, The battled towers, the Donjon keep. 1813 ― Rokeby ii. ii, By Brackenbury's dungeon-tower. 1849 James Woodman xi. 1855 Motley Dutch Rep. vi. iii. (1866) 828 It was in the donjon keep of the castle. |
c. Arch. (See
quot.)
| 1823 Crabb Technol. Dict., Donjon (Archit.), a small wooden pavilion raised above the roof of the house, where anyone may command a fine view. |
2. A strong close cell; a dark subterranean place of confinement; a deep dark vault.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 1186 So wel is me in þys doel doungoun. 13.. Coer de L. 728 That thou dwelle in a fowle dongon. c 1325 Body & Soul 471 in Map's Poems (Camden) 345 The eorthe closede hit self aȝeyn, And the dungoun was for-dit. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 8 Preamb., The said Richard was taken and imprisoned in a doungen and a depe pytt under grounde. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iii. iii. 271, I had rather be a Toad, And liue vpon the vapour of a Dungeon. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 317 The King of Heav'n hath doom'd This place our dungeon. 1713 Berkeley Guardian No. 39. ¶3 Beneath the castle I could discern vast dungeons. 1871 Morley Voltaire (1886) 7 When the fortunes of the fight do not hurry the combatant to dungeon or stake. |
3. transf. and
fig.| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 2835 ‘In helle’, he says, ‘es na raunceon’. For na helpe may be in þat dungeon. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems 251 (Mätz.) That worldly waves with there mortal deluge Ne drowne me nat in ther dreedful dongoun. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Col. 2 In the deepe doungeon of ignorance. 1671 Milton Samson 156 Thou art become..The dungeon of thyself. 1832 G. R. Porter Porcelain & Gl. 68 Palissy..confined within the dungeon of his own breast, those feelings of bitterness. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxviii. 102 Strangely the land's last verge holds him, a dungeon of earth. |
† b. A habitation, mansion: also
fig. Obs.| 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas viii. xxiv. (1554) 194 b, Up to the rich sterry bright dongeon..Called Arthurs constellacion. ― Lyke thyn Audience etc. in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 25 Dyogenes lay in a smalle dongeon, In sondre wedyrs which turnyd as a balle. 1443 ― Prospect Peace in Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 211 Briht was the sterre ovir the dongoun moost, Wher the hevenly queen lay poorly in jesyne. |
c. Applied to a person of profound learning or wisdom:
= ‘deep mine or receptacle.’ (
Sc. and
north. dial.)
| 1773 in Boswell Jrnl. Tour Hebrides 22 Oct., Lady Lochbury said, ‘he was a dungeon of wit’. 1832–53 Whistle-binkie (Sc. Songs) Ser. iii. 81 Although he's a dungeon o' Latin and Greek. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss. s.v. Dungeonable, ‘He's a dungeon o' wit’, very shrewd. Mod. Sc. He is a perfect dungeon of learning. |
4. attrib. and
Comb.: Of or belonging to a dungeon, as
dungeon-bolt,
dungeon-cell,
dungeon-door,
dungeon-floor,
dungeon-fortress,
dungeon-gate,
dungeon-vault, etc.;
dungeon-keep,
-tower (see 1 b). Also
dungeon-like adj.| 1813 Scott Rokeby iv. xxii, A fearful vision..Of *dungeon-bolts and fetters worn. |
| 1814 ― Ld. of Isles iii. iv, From lowest *dungeon cell To highest tower. |
| a 1743 Savage Wks. (1775) II. 107 (Jod.) Where *dungeon damps arise Diseas'd he pines. |
| c 1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. v. 720 The gayleris were sore afrayde of certeyn light at the *dongeon-doore. |
| 1645 Milton Tetrach. Wks. (1847) 183/2 This is that grisly porter, who..claps the *dungeon-gate upon them. |
| 1864 A. McKay Hist. Kilmarnock 98 Above were two *dungeon-like apartments. |
| 1856 W. E. Aytoun Bothwell (1857) 2 They riot o'er my *dungeon-vault. |
| 1810 Montgomery Poems, Old Man's Song viii, To burst these *dungeon-walls of clay. |
Hence
ˈdungeonable a. (
north. dial.), ‘deep’, shrewd, knowing (
cf. 3 c).
ˈdungeonly,
ˈdungeony a., dungeon-like.
| 1593 Nashe Christ's T. (1613) 42 None but the God of heauen may..returne Conquerour from that dungeonly Kingdome. 1674–91 Ray N.C. Words 22 A Dungeonable Body; a shrewd person, or, as the vulgar express it, a divelish Fellow. 1823 in Life of Dean Hook I. 360 Unaired dungeony rooms of a bachelor's house. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss., Dungeonable, deep, knowing. |
▸ A room or building used for sado-masochistic sexual activity.
In
quot. 1974: such a room furnished to resemble a medieval dungeon.
| 1974 Los Angeles Free Press 14 June (Classified section) l/2 See an actual dominant session in our medieval dungeon upon a male subject by two primier dominatrix [sic]. 1984 Social Probl. 31 384 Some scenes made use of fully equipped dungeons and torture chambers at clubs or in a participant's home or apartment. 1997 Village Voice 12 Aug. 8/3 A dominatrix working in a dungeon usually makes about $80 a session. 2005 N. Barham Dis/Connected 187 When you're hanging out in a fetish scene and you know most of the people who work there, it's a bit funny to be down in the dungeon, playing, getting on with whatever and then one of your friends walk [sic] past. |
▪ II. dungeon, v. (
ˈdʌndʒən)
[f. prec. n.] trans. To put or keep in a dungeon or cell; to imprison; to shut
up in, or as in, a dungeon.
| 1615 T. Adams Blacke Devill 76 If he once recovers him into his prison he will dungeon him. 1645 Bp. Hall Remedy Discontents 124 Are we dungeon'd up from the sight of the Sun? 1819 Shelley Cenci ii. i, You said nothing Of how I might be dungeoned like a madman. 1884 Tennyson Becket v. ii. 193 They..Kill'd half the crew, dungeon'd the other half In Pevensey Castle. |
Hence
ˈdungeoned ppl. a.,
ˈdungeoning vbl. n. and ppl. a.; also
ˈdungeoner, one who or that which dungeons.
| 1633 T. Adams Exp. 2 Peter ii. 4 The prisoner that is allowed to walk abroad, though with his keeper, is not so miserable as the dungeoned. 1795 Southey Vis. Maid of Orleans i. 30 A dungeon'd wretch. 1820 Examiner No. 650. 620/1 The dungeonings and ironings of Reformers. a 1821 Keats Lines to Fanny 33 That most hateful land, Dungeoner of my friends. |