Talk:Dungeon

I'm not sure the english word "Dungeon" has the same meaning as the french word "Donjon." As far as i remember "Dungeon" means "cell" in english("cachot" in french)

The main tower of a castle is a "Keep" in english and a "Donjon" in french. The keep (donjon) is the main build of a castle or manor.

While a keep can also contain cells we can say that the english "Dungeon" is the same as the french "Donjon" minus the protection meaning.

I think this is what's leading to confusion.

This leads to the D&D meaning of "Dungeon" which is a heroic fantasy evolution of the closed and dark cell, mixed with the labyrinth theme.

Frenchs could have translate "Dungeons & Dragons" by "Cachots & Dragons" but not "Donjons & Dragons." In fact "Donjons & Dragons" is a double mistake =>it should have been something like "Sombres labyrinthes & Dragons"

in short:

English:

dungeon=>cell

keep=>dungeon + main build

French:

donjon => keep

D&D :

dungeon=>labyrinth

EDIT: after verification: i was close to the truth and have simply to add this =

"Dungeon" actually comes from the french word "Donjon" * (Keep.) Their meanings were the same until 14st Century ("great tower of a castle".) The english word then starts to mean "underground cell" while the french word kept the original meaning.

• which himself comes from the latin word dominus (master)