Editing Dungeon (section)

==Etymology==
The word ''dungeon'' comes from French ''donjon'' (also spelled ''dongeon''), which means "[[keep]]", the main tower of a castle. The first recorded instance of the word in [[Middle English|English]] was near the beginning of the 14th century when it held the same meaning as ''donjon''. The earlier meaning of "keep" is still in use for academics, although in popular culture, it has come to mean a cell or "oubliette".{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} Though it is uncertain, both ''dungeon'' and ''donjon'' are thought to derive from the [[Middle Latin]] word ''dominus'', meaning "lord" or "master".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Merriam-Webster new book of word histories.|year=1991|publisher=Merriam-Webster|location=Springfield, Mass.|isbn=9780877796039|page=[https://archive.org/details/merriamwebsterne00merr/page/152 152]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/merriamwebsterne00merr/page/152}}</ref>

In French, the term ''donjon'' still refers to a "keep", and the English term "dungeon" refers mostly to ''oubliette'' in French. ''Donjon'' is therefore a [[false friend]] to ''dungeon'' (although the game ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' is titled ''Donjons et Dragons'' in its French editions).

An oubliette (same origin as the French ''oublier'', meaning "to forget"<ref>{{OEtymD|oubliette}}</ref>) is a basement room which is accessible only from a hatch or hole (an ''[[angstloch]]'') in a high ceiling.

The use of "donjons" evolved over time, sometimes to include prison cells, which could explain why the meaning of "dungeon" in English evolved over time from being a prison within the tallest, most secure tower of the castle into meaning a cell, and by extension, in popular use, an oubliette or even a torture chamber.

The earliest use of ''oubliette'' in French dates back to 1374, but its earliest adoption in English is [[Walter Scott]]'s ''[[Ivanhoe]]'' in 1819: "The place was utterly dark—the oubliette, as I suppose, of their accursed convent."<ref>Oxford English Dictionary</ref>