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A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period. An oubliette is a form of dungeon which is accessible only from a hatch in a high ceiling. ==Etymology== The word ''dungeon'' comes from Old French ''donjon'' (also spelled ''dongeon''), which in its earliest usage meant a "keep", the main tower of a castle. The first recorded instance of the word in English was near the beginning of the 14th century when it held the same meaning as ''donjon''. Though it is uncertain, both ''dungeon'' and ''donjon'' are thought to derive from the Middle Latin word ''dominio'', meaning "lord" or "master". In French, the term ''donjon'' still refers to a "keep", and the term ''oubliette'' is a more appropriate translation of English ''dungeon''. ''Donjon'' is therefore a false friend to ''dungeon'' (for instance, the game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' is titled ''Donjons et Dragons'' in its French editions). An oubliette (from the French ''oubliette'', literally "forgotten place") was a form of dungeon which was accessible only from a hatch in a high ceiling. The word comes from the same root as the French ''oublier'', "to forget", as it was used for those prisoners the captors wished to forget. 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."〔Oxford English Dictionary〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「dungeon」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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