dongeoun
Middle English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]- dongeon, dongoun, dongyn, donjon, donjoun, donjown, donjoune, donyon, doungoun, downgeon, dunchone, dungeon
Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Old French donjon (“main residence of a castle, fortified tower”).[1][2][3][4][5] The sense "underground cell below the keep of a castle", first attested in Anglo-Norman (13th c.) and not in other varieties of Old French, may have been influenced by the etymologically unrelated[6] Old English dung (“underground prison cell”). An early manuscript (c1300) of the Middle English poem A disputacion bytwene þe bodi and þe soule uses the word "donge" in the same line, cited below, where the later Vernon manuscript (c. 1380-1400) uses the word "dungoun" ("Þe erþe hemsulf it lek aȝeyn, Anon þe donge it was fordit").[7]
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]dongeoun
- A castle; a great fortification.
- The keep or donjon of a castle.
- A dungeon; an underground prison.
- (figurative) An abyssal prison, such as Hell or the world.
- (rare) A rough dwelling or refuge.
- (rare) A pit; an abyss.
- (rare) A whirlpool or vortex.
Related terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ “dungeon, n.”, in OED Online
, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
- ^ “dǒnǧǒun, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- ^ Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “*dominio”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 3: D–F, page 130: “Engl. dungeon, piem. dongion sind dem gallorom. entlehnt...”
- ^ Merriam-Webster. 1991. The Merriam-Webster new book of word histories. Springfield: Merriam-Webster. Page 152.
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “dongeoun”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ “dungeon, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Bishop, Chris (2019) “Our own dark hearts: re-evaluating the medieval dungeon”, in Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association[1], volume 15
Further reading
[edit]- “dǒnǧǒun, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.