donjon

/\dɔ̃.ʒɔ̃\/ noun

Letters

6 characters

Frequency Rank

#14,014

in French word usage

Misspellings

9

tracked variants

Confusables

7

similar word pairs

donjon is aFrenchnoun. It means: Tour principale d’un château où se conservaient les archives et le trésor et où se concentraient les derniers efforts de la défense. Pronounced \dɔ̃.ʒɔ̃\. Often confused with Dorion and donnons.

Key facts for donjon
PropertyValue
Headworddonjon
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\dɔ̃.ʒɔ̃\
Letters6
Frequency rank#14,014
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of donjon in French word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for donjon is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \dɔ̃.ʒɔ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #14,014 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for donjon, with forms such as "ddonjon", "dnojon", and "dojnon". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "Dorion", "donnons", "donjons", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct French form is donjon, spelled D-O-N-J-O-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Tour principale d’un château où se conservaient les archives et le trésor et où se concentraient les derniers efforts de la défense.
  2. 2
    Meuble représentant une tour carrée dans les armoiries. On parle rarement de donjon lorsque la tour est seule mais plutôt de tour carrée. En effet, la notion de donjon est plutôt réservée à la tour principale ou centrale d’un château. Le choix de l’usage du mot donjon dans le blasonnement fait généralement référence au nom d’un monument local voire au lieu lui-même pour composer des armes parlantes. À rapprocher de beffroi, phare et tour.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ddonjon,dnojon,dojnon,donjjon,donjno,donjonn,donnjon,donojn,odnjon

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for donjon

Misspelling Variants of "donjon"

ddonjon7dnojon6dojnon6donjjon7donjno6donjonn7donnjon7donojn6
Misspelling Variants of "donjon"

Frequency rank: #14,014 in French

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "donjon"?
"donjon" is spelled D-O-N-J-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is \dɔ̃.ʒɔ̃\.
What does "donjon" mean?
As a noun, "donjon" means: Tour principale d’un château où se conservaient les archives et le trésor et où se concentraient les derniers efforts de la défense.
What words are commonly confused with "donjon"?
"donjon" is commonly confused with "Dorion", "donnons", "donjons". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "donjon"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "donjon" is \dɔ̃.ʒɔ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "donjon" come from?
"donjon" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby French words

Other entries that begin with the letter D in our French index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.