Donjon

//ˈdʌn.d͡ʒən// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The fortified tower and main residence of a motte or early castle; a keep.

    "It was a fortress of no great size, consisting of a donjon, or large and high square tower, surrounded by buildings of inferior height, which were encircled by an inner court-yard."

  2. 2
    the main tower within the walls of a medieval castle or fortress wordnet

Example

More examples

"It was a fortress of no great size, consisting of a donjon, or large and high square tower, surrounded by buildings of inferior height, which were encircled by an inner court-yard."

Etymology

A variant of dungeon remodelled on its etymon, Old French donjon.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.