donjon

noun

don·​jon ˈdän-jən  ˈdən- 

: a massive inner tower in a medieval castle see castle illustration

Illustration of donjon

• 1 donjon

Examples of donjon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

It’s billed as the tallest medieval donjon in Europe. —Nicole Defeudis, BostonGlobe.com, 29 May 2018

However, both donjon and dungeon originally referred to and still refer to, secondarily, a castle keep. —David Dobbs, Slate Magazine, 25 Sep. 2017

Word History

Etymology

Middle English — more at dungeon

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

donjon

noun

don·​jon ˈdän-jən  ˈdən- 

: the main inner tower in a castle

Etymology

Middle English donjon "inner tower of a castle," from early French donjon (same meaning) — related to dungeon see Word History at dungeon