dungeonn.
/ˈdʌn(d)ʒ(ə)n/, U.S. /ˈdəndʒ(ə)n/ 1. A large fortified tower, esp. the great tower or keep of a castle, typically located in the innermost court or bailey, and used as a secure place of refuge, retreat, or imprisonment. Sometimes (esp. in early use) more generally: a castle or fortress; a stronghold. Now rare.Recorded earliest in form donioun (cf. variant forms at donjon n.). Donjon is now the usual form for this sense, in order to avoid confusion with sense 3a, and for this reason the full history of forms beginning donj- (and doni-) is treated at donjon n. (see sense 1 at that entry).
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society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > castle or fortified building > [noun] > keep
donjonc1330
dungeonc1330
keepa1586
reduit1604
main guard1645
redoubt1648
donjon keep1808
donjon tower1808
keep-tower1865
c1330 Seven Sages (Auch.) (1933) l. 1841 (MED) Þer biside on o donioun [a1550 Balliol Coll. vpon a towr] He kest a man of cler latoun.
c1390 (a1376) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Vernon) (1867) A. Prol. l. 15 A Deop Dale bi-neoþe, A dungun [B text c1400 Laud 581 dongeon] þer-Inne, With deop dich..dredful of siht.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 199 The grete tour..Which of the Castel was the chief dongeoun Ther as the knyghtes weren in prisoun.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. l. 1740 Þe kyng..In his palys and dongoun principal Sat and abod ful solempnely.
1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xv. l. 211 Thai of the dwngeoune [1489 Adv. doungeoun] Durst oppyn no ȝat, na bryg let doune.
?1549 R. Wyer tr. C. de Pisan C. Hyst. Troye xcvii. U.ijv Ylion was the mayster dongeon or stonge holde of Troy.
1569 R. 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.
1607 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Serres in tr. Gen. Inuentorie Hist. France ii. 154 The Bastion vpon the bridge, being the dungeon of their principall defence.
1678 M. D. tr. J. M. Wansleben Present State Egypt 105 In the middle [of the castle] is a high Dungeon to retreat at last.
1705 London Gaz. No. 4164/3 The Governor..retired into the Dungeon, which is a small Fort within the great one.
1786 T. Hearne Antiq. Great-Brit. facing Pl. XVIII A second Henry St. Clair..built the great dungeon, or citadel at Roslin Castle.
1843 Sat. Mag. Nov. (Suppl.) 213/1 On an eminence at the western extremity of the ballium, stood the keep or dungeon, here called the round tower.
1938 L. C. MacKinney Medieval World xi. 235 This castle had concentric circles of walls dotted with round towers and bastions, and a central dungeon about a hundred feet in diameter and twice that in height.
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c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 2301 (MED) Summe fulle out ouer þe wal into þe dupe dongoun, & breke hure nekkes.
3.
a. A (small) secure cell, underground chamber, or pit for the confinement of prisoners, esp. in the keep of a castle. In plural with the: a complex of such prison cells in a castle, etc.
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society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > dungeon
dungOE
pitc1300
lakea1382
dungeonc1390
donjona1400
little-easea1529
thieves' hole1578
dungeon cell?1674
oubliette1777
c1390 Pistel of Swete Susan (Vernon) l. 174 Þei dede hire in a dungon,..Marred in Manicles.., Meteles, whiles þe Morwen to Middai and mare.
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) v. l. 1466 This duk was cast and cheyned in prisoun, Escapid onys.., Take ageyn, throwe in a derk dongoun.
c1450 (a1425) Metrical Paraphr. Old Test. (Selden) l. 1242 (MED) In downgyn depe scho dyd hym thryng.
a1500 (?a1390) J. Mirk Festial (Gough) (1905) 211 A man was..don to þe grovnde of an hiȝ towre yn a dep dongen and was semot wyth yerns.
a1505 R. Henryson Bludy Serk l. 21 in Poems (1981) 159 He..kest hir in his dungering [rhymes king, ȝing] Quhair licht scho micht se nane.
1598 E. Ford Parismus xxvi. sig. Cc3v [In] the Dungeons of the Castle..were manie distressed wights..that of long time had not seene the pure light, nor felt the comfortable heate of the Sunne.
a1623 W. Pemble Short Expos. Zachary (1629) 147 The worst place in the Prison, the Dungeon:..a darkesome dirty Vault underground, wherein to Prisoners were let downe.
1644 Mercurius Aulicus 7–13 July 1076 Such Officers and Gentlemen as they take Prisoners, they now tye in chaines, and thrust into dungeons.
1713 G. Berkeley in Guardian 25 Apr. 1/1 Beneath the Castle I cou'd discern vast Dungeons.
1781 Lett. Ital. Nun & Eng. Gentleman 44 The most inexorable Tyrant does not refuse bread and water to the Criminal whom he has consigned to the Dungeon!
1827 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey IV. vi. viii. 269 Severe indeed will be your lot when you are in a dungeon.., with black bread for roast venison, and sour water for Rhenish!
1872 J. Morley Voltaire i. 7 When..the fortunes of the fight do not hurry the combatant to dungeon or stake.
1908 K. Grahame Wind in Willows vi. 143 Toad was a helpless prisoner in the remotest dungeon of the best-guarded keep of the stoutest castle in all the length and breadth of Merry England.
1951 M. Jonson Greensleeves' Magic i. 23 Seize this man! Throw him into the dungeons!
1994 Orange County (Calif.) Register 27 July 15/1 A man who held a little girl captive in a dungeon at his house for 16 days sobbed..before receiving 15 years to life in prison.
2011 Hist. Ireland 19 52/2 The dungeon is worth looking at for the large graffito scratched into a wall.
b. A room, building, etc., viewed as or likened to a prison dungeon, esp. in being small, dark, squalid, or confining.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > types of room generally > [noun] > others
hell1310
summer hall1388
summer parloura1425
paradise1485
fire room1591
garden room1619
ease-room1629
portcullis1631
divan1678
but?1700
sluttery1711
rotunda1737
glass casea1777
dungeon1782
hall of mirrors1789
balcony-chamber1800
showroom1820
mirror room1858
vomitorium1923
mosquito room1925
refuge room1937
quiet room1938
Florida room1968
roomset1980
wet room1982
1782 W. Cowper Mutual Forbearance in Poems 347 What a mere dungeon is this house, By no means large enough, and was it, Yet this dull room and that dark closet..Are such an antiquated scene.
1825 W. Hazlitt in Morning Chron. 15 July A woman..sprang out of a dungeon of a porter's lodge, and..dragged her by the arm up the staircase.
1893 Jrnl. Orificial Surg. 1 649 Blinds, shades.., cobwebs and dust can so interfere with the entrance of light as to convert an otherwise pleasant home into a veritable dungeon.
1942 Daily Boston Globe 10 Feb. 11/2 [The men on submarines] are intensely loyal. They have to be in order to live together congenially..in such cramped dungeons.
1990 Mid-Atlantic Country Sept. 103/1 They lead me into this dungeon of an office—the room their interior decorator doesn't know exists.
2012 D. Kidner Nature & Experience in Culture of Delusion iii. 92 All the recently constructed lecture theatres are windowless dungeons without natural lighting or ventilation.
c. A room used for bondage, domination, sadomasochism, or similar sexual activities; (also) a club or other commercial venue for such activities.
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the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > types of sexual behaviour > [noun] > sadism or masochism > room or venue for
dungeon1969
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > room by type of use > [noun] > others
speech-housec1050
watching-chamber1533
music room1608
service room1669
amphitheatre1694
lararium1706
well-room1731
lumber room1740
water room1774
bird room1776
grubbery1791
bookery1798
study1808
service room1833
selamlik1838
serving room1838
social space1851
mail room1856
rumpus room1930
birthing room1936
home office1960
romper room1961
dungeon1969
1969 M. Peckham Art & Pornogr. iii. viii. 217 Sado-masochist pornography is instructive on this point, for the activity involved requires privacy, usually dungeons or soundproof rooms.
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.
1996 Pro Domme seeks LA Dungeon in alt.sex.bondage (Usenet newsgroup) 22 Sept. Others are welcome to respond if they have particular knowledge of the commercial dungeons in Los Angeles..and would like to critique them on atmosphere, staff, owners, etc.
2012 T. Reisz Angel 179 This..is a basic fantasy. Dominant woman, gorgeous dungeon full of S&M toys, big bed.
d. In a fantasy role-playing game (originally and esp. Dungeons and Dragons): any enclosed environment, most typically a complex of underground vaults, tunnels, etc., in which players seek rewards and face dangers; (in later use also) such an environment depicted in a computer game.Sometimes used more generally to refer to the entire imaginary environment in which a game of Dungeons and Dragons takes place.
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1974 G. Gygax & D. Arneson Dungeons & Dragons: Rules III. 4 A good dungeon will have no less than a dozen levels down, with..new levels under construction so that players will never grow tired of it.
1982 J. Butterfield et al. What is Dungeons & Dragons? 177 Mapper, the player who makes a rough map of the dungeon as it is traversed.
1996 Re: City/Politics/Diplomatic Adventures in rec.games.frp.dnd (Usenet newsgroup) 1 Dec. There is..a catacomb complex beneath the city which doubles as a traditional ‘dungeon’.
2015 Guardian (Nexis) 6 Apr. (Technol. section) You swipe your hero through a dungeon packed with monsters, traps, and treasure.
4. Hell considered as a place of imprisonment and punishment for the damned; a place of confinement or torment within hell. Also occasionally with reference to purgatory.
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c1390 Body & Soul (Vernon) (1889) 104 Fendes..slongen hit..Into þe aller deoppeste pit [1300 Laud the develes pit]... Þe eorþe closede hitself aȝeyn, And þe dungoun was fordit.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 2835 ‘In helle’, he says, ‘es na raunceon.’ For na helpe may be in þat dungeon.
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. xxvi. 342 With bytter bayll I haue the boght..Into this dongeon depe I soght, And all for luf of the.
1624 J. Ussher Answer to Challenge by Iesuite 226 To lye in the dungeon of Purgatory..untill the generall jayle-deliverie of the last day.
1672 G. Swinnock Treat. Incomparableness God xxii. 233 To be siezed on by Divels drag'd to their Dungeon of darkness, there to fry in untollerable flames for ever.
a1708 W. Beveridge Compan. Candidates Heaven (1714) 29 Had he not loved you, you would not have been in God's House, but in the Devil's Dungeon.
a1769 P. Annet Lect. (?1769) vii. 78 He..is their redeemer from the infernal dungeon of fire and darkness.
1841 I. D'Israeli Amenities Lit. I. 38 The Satan of Cædmon..is represented as in ‘the dungeon of perdition’.
1895 R. G. Ingersoll Myth & Miracle (rev. ed.) vi. 41 Superstition..gave us..descriptions of paradise, purgatory, and the eternal dungeon.
1910 J. Berkeley Mod. Revolt from Rome ii. 24 ‘O Christ.., free my son from his bonds in that dungeon to which Thy justice dost consign him..,’prays the mother.
1927 Oxford Mirror (Oxford Junction, Iowa) 24 Mar. The devils shrieked as they fell into the infernal dungeons.
2012 G. Bray God is Love xvii. 370 There is no dungeon lying underneath the earth's surface where Satan and the fallen angels will be bound.
5. A thing, situation, state of mind, etc., characterized as a place of imprisonment or torture, or as a cause of misery or deprivation.Recorded earliest in dole dungeon n. at dole n.2 Additions.
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c1400 (?c1380) Pearl l. 1187 So wel is me in þys doel-doungoun, Þat þou art to þat Prynsez paye.
c1475 Life St. Anne (Trin. Cambr.) (1928) l. 112 (MED) The carnall pryson Of the body, to the soule a dongeon.
1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. Col. i. f. iiv In the deepe doungeon of ignoraunce.
1561 J. Dolman tr. Cicero 5 Questions i. sig. D.viii Thy bodye is but the vassayle, and dongeon of thy minde.
a1649 W. Drummond Wks. (1711) 23 Most woful Wretch, whom shining Hair and Eyes, Lead to Love's Dungeon.
1685 C. Cleeve Songs Moses & Deborah 56 Soul, Within its Earthly Dungeon pent, Grew quickly weary of Imprisonment.
a1746 M. Leapor Poems upon Several Occasions (1751) II. 100 His Heart,..Is now a Dungeon for the Dregs of Sin.
1750 S. Johnson Rambler No. 52. (1752) II. 146 How can it avail the man who languishes in the gloom of sorrow.., to hear that others are sunk yet deeper in the dungeon of misery?
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre II. vi. 172 Existence for you must be a scene of continual change and excitement, or else the world is a dungeon.
1865 Christian Remembrancer Oct. 415 The body is the soul's dungeon and grave.
1945 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 18 June 12/5 During the execution of the mandate..the Levant States..had been dragged to a deeper dungeon of pain and suffering.
1989 N. Cave And Ass saw Angel ii. xvi. 155 The shackles of the million unspoken secrets that lay incarcerated in the dungeons of his heart.
2017 T. L. Nelson Crazy Life v. 75 We will..continue to share our story so that perhaps someone can break out of the dungeon of depression.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > a dwelling > [noun]
earneOE
wickc900
bottleeOE
innOE
boldOE
wonningc1000
wanea1225
wonea1250
bidea1300
dwelling1340
habitaculec1374
habitaclec1384
habitationc1384
mansionc1385
placea1387
manantie?a1400
dungeonc1460
longhousec1460
folda1500
residencea1522
abode1549
bield1570
lodgement1598
bidinga1600
sit-house1743
location1795
wigwam1817
address1855
yard1865
res1882
nivas1914
multifamily1952
c1460 (a1449) J. Lydgate Minor Poems (1934) ii. 753 Kyng Alisaundir he conqueryd al, Diogenes lay in a smal dongoun.
a1500 (?a1422) J. Lydgate Life Our Lady (Adv.) in W. B. D. D. Turnbull Visions of Tundale (1843) 114 (MED) Or for asstates was ther any hall Save a dongon and an ox stall.
7. A deep, dark place in the sea or land; a gulf, abyss, or chasm; a cave or cavern. Frequently in plural.
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the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hole or pit > [noun] > abyss
swallowa700
deepnessa1000
deep1393
abysmc1475
dungeonc1475
depth1523
gulfa1533
downfall1542
hell-kettle1577
abysmus1611
vorago1654
under-abyss1662
purgatory1766
fosse1805
jaw-hole1840
the world > the earth > land > landscape > low land > hole or pit > [noun] > chasm or cleft
chinec1050
earth-chinea1300
kinc1330
chimneyc1374
haga1400
riftc1400
refta1425
dungeonc1475
rupturec1487
gaping1539
rent1603
chasm1621
abrupt1624
hiulcitya1681
clove1779
score1790
strid1862
fent1878
c1475 (a1449) J. Lydgate Testament (Harl. 218) l. 538 in Minor Poems (1911) ii. 349 That worldly wawes with ther mortall deluge Ne drowne me nat in the dredfull dongeoun.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy (2002) f. 204 Doune in the dongyn of a dry pit Was a gobet..all of gold hid.
1587 A. Fraunce tr. T. Watson Lament. Amyntas sig. Ev By the caues of beasts, by the dungeons darke, by the deserts, And by the hills, by the dales, by the wells and watery fountains.
a1631 J. Donne Poems (1633) 333 Dar'st thou dive seas, and dungeons of the earth?
1684 T. Burnet Theory of Earth i. iii. 30 We see..the Air thrown down into Dungeons of the Earth, and the Earth got up among the Clouds; for there are the tops of the Mountains, and under their roots in holes and Caverns the Air is often detain'd.
1721 E. Ward Merry Travellers: Pt. I 64 As dismal and as dark As..any Dungeon in the deep, where Neptune and his Tritons sleep.
1770 J. Armstrong Misc. I. 162 The skies foam'd brass, and soon th' unchained wind: Burst from the howling dungeon of the north.
1831 Imperial Mag. Mar. 132/1 Amidst the dark and dank dungeons of the earth's strata, hundreds of yards beneath the surface.
1851 D. Landsborough Excursions Arran, Ailsa Craig, & Two Cumbraes ix. 189 Are any disposed to think the scallop must lead a joyless life, lying inert in the dungeons of the deep?
1921 Weekly Underwriter 8 Oct. 725 We tramped the weird dungeons carved by nature in the very bowels of the hills.
1945 W. H. Auden Coll. Poetry iii. 207 Wear out patience in lowest Dungeons of the sea, Searching through the stranded shipwrecks For the golden key.
2005 Irish News (Nexis) 26 May 28 This carbon became dragged deep underground, below the surface crust to the fiery dungeon of the Earth's mantle.
8. Scottish and English regional (northern). Cf. dungeonable adj.† a. A wicked, malicious, or difficult person; a ‘devil’. Obsolete.† c. With for (also at). A person who is renowned for, or has a particular capacity for or skill at, a certain activity; one who is notorious for something. Cf. demon n. 4a, devil n. 4d. Obsolete.
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society > morality > moral evil > wickedness > [noun] > wicked person
warlockOE
shrewc1250
quedea1275
wick1297
felon1340
son of perditionc1384
nicec1400
pucka1450
sorrowc1450
improbe1484
wicked1484
naughtyc1580
stigmatic1597
thornback1599
stigmatist1607
naughta1639
dungeona1728
a1728 W. Kennett MS Coll. Provinc. Words (BL Lansdowne MS 1033) f. 94 A Dungeon or a Dungeonable body. A shrewd person, a devillish fellow. So of a scolding furious woman, shee is a dungeon, a meer dungeon. North.
b. A person regarded as a deep mine or repository of wit, knowledge, learning, etc. Cf. mine of information at mine n. 1c.
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1773 J. Boswell Jrnl. 22 Oct. in Jrnl. Tour Hebrides (1785) 428 Lady Lochbuy said, ‘he was a dungeon of wit;’ a very common phrase in Scotland to express a profoundness of intellect.
1838 Tait's Edinb. Mag. Sept. 587/2 Although he's a dungeon o' Latin an' Greek.
1852 C. Sinclair Beatrice I. iv. 126 This learned treasure, the Rev. Mr. Talbot, a perfect dungeon of knowledge.
1855 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Yorks. Words 50 ‘He's a dungeon o' wit’, very shrewd.
1950 ‘O. Douglas’ Farewell to Priorsford 142 She was a dungeon of learning about the old tales..of the country side.
1979 J. J. Graham Shetland Dict. 19/2 Dungeon, applied to someone who has great knowledge. ‘He wis jöst a dungeon o lear.’
2019 F. Robson tr. J. W. McGinty Humour o Robert Burns in Lallans 94 116 He is no sae much ettlin tae be a dungeon o learnin as tae be suitit tae the subjeck.
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the world > action or operation > ability > [noun] > ability or talent > people having talent > person having talent
natural1749
talent1807
dungeona1859
a1859 W. Watt Poems & Songs (1860) 189 And but few o' his trade e'er his fitstaps will fill, For a dungeon for craft was auld Mungo McGill.
1868 J. C. Atkinson Gloss. Cleveland Dial. 159 ‘She is a dungeon at breaking’; of a careless, crockery-breaking girl.
1873 J. Harland Gloss. Words Swaledale (at cited word) ‘A dungeon at eating’, profound in that capacity.
1899 I. Wilkinson in Eng. Dial. Dict. (1900) II. 211/2 [North Yorkshire] T'publican's a dungeon for wattering yal [= ale].
Phrases
Dungeons and Dragons n. (also with lower case initials) (a proprietary name for) a fantasy role-playing game in which a number of players explore an imaginary setting (created and overseen by another player; cf. dungeon master n. at Compounds 2), originally and most typically one based loosely on medieval myth and legend (cf. sense 3c); abbreviated D & D; also in allusive use.
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1974 G. Gygax & D. Arneson (title) Dungeons & Dragons: rules for fantastic medieval wargames campaigns playable with paper and pencil and miniature figures.
1987 New Yorker 20 Nov. 110/2 His Global Project reads like an elaborate boys' game—a revolutionaries' Dungeons and Dragons.
1991 Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Dec. 90/1 He was..sucked into a kind of covert-ops version of Dungeons & Dragons, with that memo as his guide and Michael Riconosciuto as his Dungeon Master.
2011 B. Halpin in A. N. Richesin Crush 174 Music geekery was more socially acceptable to most girls than comic book and Dungeons and Dragons geekery.
Compounds
C1. General attributive, chiefly in sense 3a, with the sense ‘of, belonging to, or characteristic of a dungeon’.
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c1450 J. Capgrave Life St. Katherine (Arun. 396) (1893) v. l. 720 The gayleris were sore afrayde Of certeyn light at the dongeon-doore.
1558 T. Phaer tr. Virgil Seuen First Bks. Eneidos iii. sig. H.ijv The dongeon flore in sight Did swymme with blood.
1643 E. Wirley Prisoners Rep. sig. A4 Some of our companie went to worke with their kniues, and in time..made a hole through the dungeon-wall..out of which most of us issued.
1645 J. Milton Tetrachordon 14 This is that greisly Porter, who..claps the dungeon gate upon them.
1732 R. Savage Epist. to Walpole 12 Where Dungeon-Damps arise, Diseas'd he pines.
1799 T. Campbell Pleasures of Hope & Other Poems i. 267 The dim-eyed tenant of the dungeon gloom.
1813 W. Scott Rokeby iv. xxii. 186 A fearful vision..Of dungeon-bolts and fetters worn.
1856 W. E. Aytoun Bothwell (1857) 2 They riot o'er my dungeon-vault.
1912 M. Stewart Once upon Time Tales 126 A tiny bunch of white violets which one of the Knight's robins had dropped between the dungeon bars.
1943 Sewanee Rev. 51 184 The dungeon-key turned in the lock.
1999 Renaissance No. 13. 28/3 Just a few steps along the passageway, the dungeon entrance opened into a pit prison situated well below floor level.
C2.
dungeon cell n. a small, secure prison cell; a dungeon; = sense 3a.
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society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > dungeon
dungOE
pitc1300
lakea1382
dungeonc1390
donjona1400
little-easea1529
thieves' hole1578
dungeon cell?1674
oubliette1777
?1674 G. Whitehead in W. Penn & G. Whitehead Christian-quaker ii. viii. 103 The least Beam thereof, shining through any Crevis into any Dungeon Cell or other oscure place.
1739 A. Nicol Nature without Art 5 Hence sullen Cares, expire in Lethe's Strand, And fix your Dungeon Cells in Pluto's Land.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iii. iv. 85 From lowest dungeon cell To highest tower.
1921 Arkansas Democrat 24 Dec. 7/8 A hipster meets a cop, Away, pell mell, To a dungeon cell.
2014 Scholastic Scope Jan. 15/1 The year was 1793, and Queen Marie Antoinette was waiting in a cold dungeon cell.
dungeon crawl n. (in a fantasy role-playing game, originally Dungeons and Dragons, now usually a computer game) an adventure or scenario in which a player or players explore a dungeon (sense 3d); a game set mainly or wholly in a dungeon.
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1982 Re: SFRPs in net.games.frp (Usenet newsgroup) 29 Oct. SF games lack the convenient dungeon-crawl scenario type, so more work is needed than in most AD&D campaigns.
1996 S. Becker in D. H. Borcherding Sci. Fiction & Fantasy Writer's Sourcebk. (ed. 2) iii. 136 Story-telling is not simply putting your latest dungeon crawl into narrative form.
2003 PC Gamer Oct. 95/1 (advt.) With an all new ‘dungeon crawl’ experience.., dozens of new creatures to combat, and exclusive new high-level raids.
2011 Appeal-Democrat (Marysville, Calif.) 5 July b5/2 The last decade or so has been great for fans of loot-driven dungeon crawls. Action role-playing adventures..have given players many perilous depths to explore.
dungeon crawler n. (a) a fantasy role-playing game (originally Dungeons and Dragons, now usually a computer game), in which the exploration of a dungeon (sense 3d) is a major element; (b) a person who plays games of this type; a character depicted in such a game.
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1989 Re: DMing Tips in rec.games.frp (Usenet newsgroup) 29 Apr. This has been a very ‘dungeon crawler’ sort of listing, but the ideas can apply to any sort of situation.
1989 Re: Beginner needs Advice in rec.games.frp (Usenet newsgroup) 29 June The typical approach..is to learn AD&D [sc. Advanced Dungeons and Dragons] (going from dungeon crawler..to..role-player).
1997 Toronto Star 2 Oct. h4/1 Dungeon crawlers rejoice! Sierra..is creating the only authorized add-on disc for..Diablo.
2007 Roswell (New Mexico) Daily Rec. 21 June b8/1 Scantily clad dungeon-crawler Lara Croft has been reborn many times over the years.
2017 @HunterxNerd 26 Oct. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) I swear to god if you make a game, it has to be a dungeon crawler.
dungeon crawling n. (in a fantasy role-playing game, now esp. a computer game) the action or practice of exploring a dungeon (sense 3d).
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1989 Newsday (N.Y.) 26 Nov. (TV Plus section) 88/2 [This] is one of this game's most delightful surprises, making your hours of dungeon-crawling worthwhile.
1990 Re: Who are Adventurers Anyway? in rec.games.frp (Usenet newsgroup) 6 Dec. The constant dungeon-crawling, monster-slaying, treasure-snarfing that was the epitome of the ‘standard’ D&D adventure.
2014 M. Miller Top 100 Windows 8.1 Apps ii. 38 You play as an angel, and there's lots of dungeon crawling, fighting, and who knows what.
dungeon fortress n. a castle or other stronghold used as a place of imprisonment; a fortress in which prisoners are held in dungeons; also figurative.
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1822 S. Rogers Italy: Pt. 1st i. 10 That dungeon-fortress never to be named, Where..Toussaint breathed out his brave and generous spirit.
1880 W. L. M'Farlan in Scotch Serm. 1880 xii. 221 It [sc. scholastic theology] is no longer..an impregnable dungeon fortress of the mind..in which the Christian intellect is hopelessly immured.
1914 Brit. Bee Jrnl. 7 May 186/1 Castello Nuovo, one of the typical dungeon fortresses of the middle centuries.
2014 J. Swafford Beethoven vii. 102 On the fourteenth of July..an armed mob of Parisians stormed the dungeon fortress of the Bastille.
dungeon keep n. (a) a large fortified tower, a keep; = dungeon tower n.; (b) a small, dark cell for prisoners; a prison, a dungeon.
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1813 Juvenile Port-folio 2 Oct. 204/1 I mark'd the sewer, dark and deep, That flows beneath the dungeon keep.
1907 Celtic Rev. 3 270 And now the skeletons of the done to death in the dungeon keeps came rattling up.
1960 L. A. Fiedler Love & Death in Amer. Novel v. 112 Beneath the haunted castle lies the dungeon keep.
1993 K. Kerr Days of Blood & Fire (1994) ii. 120 Home or not, their new lodging was certainly better than the dungeon keep.
2014 Bristol Post (Nexis) 1 July 6 Selkirk..met Defoe in the Star Coffee House which was located above Bristol Castle's old dungeon keep.
dungeon master n. (frequently with capital initials) a person who oversees a fantasy role-playing game (originally and esp. Dungeons and Dragons), creating the story and its setting and presiding over the game as it is played; abbreviated DM.
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1975 Mason City (Iowa) Globe-Gaz. 29 July 19/6 At the D & D encounter, Gary Gygax, of Lake Geneva, Wis., was ‘dungeon master’, refereeing this hot mythical game of adventure.
1992 Dragon Mag. Feb. 13/1 I suggest that Dungeon Masters who use the AD&D 2nd Edition rules consider permitting cavaliers—even if only as NPCs—to follow nongood alignments.
2013 C. Doctorow Homeland iii. 45 We'd interrupted an old-school gaming session, the kind you play with a dungeon master and lots of role-playing.
dungeon tower n. a large fortified tower, esp. the great tower or keep of a castle, a donjon; (later sometimes) such a tower regarded as a place of imprisonment, a tower containing dungeons.
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a1552 J. Leland Itinerary (1711) VII. 72 In the utter Courte..is a greate Dungeon Tower, made..of Stone browght out of Cane in Normandye.
1645 W. Lithgow True Relation Siege Newcastle 14 Seventeen dungeon Towres, fixt about the walles.
1796 L. Majendie Acc. Hedingham Castle 2 The Keep, or Dungeon Tower, from its great strength and the solidity of its walls, has alone resisted the injuries of time and weather.
1819 Maryland Herald 18 May Plunge me in the dungeon tower; with bolts and turnkeys blast mine eyes.
1933 Illustr. London News 10 June 838/1 (caption) The Dungeon Tower of Pevensey Castle, beneath which was found one of the two newly discovered Norman dungeons.
2006 L. E. Hull Britain's Medieval Castles i. 30 Accessible only from inside the inner bailey, the dungeon tower rose three stories.
Derivatives
ˌdungeoˈnesque adj. resembling or characteristic of a dungeon.
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1916 ‘S. Rohmer’ in Salt Lake Tribune 16 Apr. There was a heavy table in one corner of the dungeonesque place.
1978 New Statesman 18 Aug. 221/2 [The] umpires..took the players on in dungeonesque light last Saturday, allowed two balls to be bowled, then marched off again.
2009 M. Wareham Rescue Me (2010) i. 8 Back then in 1988, Battersea Dogs Home was as people imagined it: dark, dank and dungeon-esque.
ˈdungeon-like adj.
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1613 R. Middleton Carde & Compasse Life iii. 15 A most vast, and bottomlesse gulfe, hideous to behold; in darknesse, most dungeon-like.
1799 M. Carey Plumb Pudding for Peter Porcupine (ed. 2) v. 34 The inmost recesses of your dungeon-like labyrinths should not screen you from my vengeance!
1864 A. McKay Hist. Kilmarnock (ed. 3) 98 Above were two dungeon-like apartments.
1921 Field & Stream Sept. 482/1 Good sank lower and lower into the increasingly dungeonlike gloom.
2008 D. Amram Upbeat viii. 231 He took me down a dark set of stairs into the dungeon-like cellar.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
dungeonv.
/ˈdʌn(d)ʒ(ə)n/, U.S. /ˈdəndʒ(ə)n/ 1. transitive. To confine in or as if in a dungeon; to imprison (literal and figurative). Also with up. Now somewhat rare.
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society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > imprison [verb (transitive)] > imprison in a dungeon
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1603 J. Davies Microcosmos 159 Whilst we are Dungeon'd in this World of wo.
1648 J. Lilburne Defiance of Tyrants sig. A3/1 His will shall be a Law unto me, to dungion me, boalt and fetter me, contrary to Law.
1692 Satan Sifting 191 The Soul..looks out of the Body, at those Casements, the Eyes; without which, it would be dungeon'd up.
1767 Prospect of Liberty 11 Wilt thou dungeon me because I write As honesty directs?
1775 Morning Post 25 Sept. What must become of the convicts? Are they to be dungeoned until the female's trial?
1830 Standard 4 Jan. That execrable system..proceeds by dungeoning the mind.
1884 Ld. Tennyson Becket v. ii. 193 They..Kill'd half the crew, dungeon'd the other half In Pevensey Castle.
1944 S. Kunitz Passport to War i. 10 As scholars dungeoned in an ignorant age Tended the embers of the Trojan fire.
1966 J. Goldman Lion in Winter i. i. 6 How many husbands do you know who dungeon up their wives?
2012 @KassidyBlauvelt 20 July in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) I haven't done a thing in ever since I've been dungeoned in bed unable to move.
2. transitive. literary and poetic. To lock away or shut off from. Also with away from, up from. Chiefly in passive. Now rare.
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1644 T. Prujean Aurorata sig. B7v Being for thy sake slave to so much paine..Dungeond from heavens lovd life.
1645 Bp. J. Hall Remedy Discontentm. xx. 124 Are we dungeon'd up from the sight of the Sun?
1843 Metrop. Mag. July 321 Why am I left here, dungeoned up from this light of love?
1852 D. W. Bartlett What I saw in London viii. 169 Think of the wretched culprits who are dungeoned away from liberty with those dreary walls.
1917 S. Sassoon Old Huntsman 65 His headstrong thoughts..Are now thrust inward, dungeoned from the sky.
1938 Austral. National Rev. Sept. 54 Are there not still others, faintly heard Through walls of time that dungeon them from us?
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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