donjon
/ˈdʌn.d͡ʒən/
"donjon" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“donjon” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The fortified tower and main residence of a motte or early castle; a keep.
Corpus desk
Index EN-donjon · donjon · English
donjon · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | donjon |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdʌn.d͡ʒən/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “donjon” in English
Rare enough to double-check
donjon is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈdʌn.d͡ʒən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The fortified tower and main residence of a motte or early castle; a keep.".
donjon has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: A variant of dungeon remodelled on its etymon, Old French donjon. The correct English form is donjon, spelled D-O-N-J-O-N.
Definition
- 1The fortified tower and main residence of a motte or early castle; a keep.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how donjon appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
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.
[…] the prison fortress called Qomr, a mound of yellowish brick rising up from the left back of the turbid river, in whose donjon by long tradition the warlord was obliged to lay his head.
Etymology
A variant of dungeon remodelled on its etymon, Old French donjon.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.