dungeon
n. countablen. a dark, strong room used as a prison, usually built under a castle. You often see these in history books or fantasy stories.
n. a dark, often underground prison cell, typically located beneath a medieval castle. While historically specific, it is frequently used in modern gaming and fantasy literature to describe subterranean labyrinths.
The knight was locked in a cold, dark dungeon.
The castle tour includes a visit to the damp dungeon where prisoners were kept centuries ago.
Archaeologists discovered a hidden staircase leading to a subterranean dungeon that had remained sealed since the fortress was abandoned during the late fourteenth century.
From Middle English dongeoun (“keep of a castle; dungeon; abyss, cave, den; whirlpool”), from Anglo-Norman donjun (“keep of a castle; keep used as a prison; dungeon”) and continental Old French donjon (“keep of a castle”), from Vulgar Latin *dominiōnem, seemingly derived from Latin dominus (“master, lord”) perhaps via some figurative sense like “dominant building”. Doublet of donjon. The sense of “prison (associated with a castle)”, first attested in Anglo-Norman (13th c.) and apparently never in continental Old French, likely developed in combination with Old English dung (“underground prison cell”), whence Middle English donge (“pit, abyss”, senses that are also attested for Middle English dongeoun). The game term has been popularized by Dungeons & Dragons.
Often used with the preposition 'in' or 'into' ('thrown into a dungeon').