different from the ordinary prison in being more severe as a place of punishment Like the Roman inner prison (Acts 16: 24), it consisted of a deep cell or cistern (Jer 38: 6) To be shut up in, a punishment common in Egypt (Gen 39: 20; 40: 3; 41: 10; 42: 19) It is not mentioned, however, in the law of Moses as a mode of punishment Under the later kings imprisonment was frequently used as a punishment (2 Chron 16: 10; Jer 20: 2; 32: 2; 33: 1; 37: 15), and it was customary after the Exile (Matt 11: 2; Luke 3: 20; Acts 5: 18, 21; Matt 18: 30)
A dungeon is a dark underground prison in a castle. a dark underground prison, especially under a castle, that was used in the past (donjon , from dominus )
A term derived from an old part of medieval castels, the "donjon" It was the most fortified and therefor hardest to reach portion of the castle: a tower with walls several yards thick containing everything needed to withstand even the longest sieges In role-playing games, dungeons are not only prisons or cell complexes (as in the modern meaning of the word), but generally any (mostly subterranean) remote or closed system of rooms which the characters can explore
[ 'd&n-j&n ] (noun.) 14th century. Middle English donjon, from Middle French, from Vulgar Latin domnion-, domnio keep, mastery, from Latin dominus lord; more at DOMINATE.