zindan

Z10I1N1D2A1N1

noun

an improvised prison cell consisting of a hole in the ground covered with a metal grille or grate.

OriginRussian зинда́н ← Classical Persian زِنْدَان →
Scrabble 16
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Meanings

nounzindan (plural zindans)

plural zindans

  1. Russiaan improvised prison cell consisting of a hole in the ground covered with a metal grille or grate.

    They should have brought a few journalists into the mountains or to us in Argun when Lisitsyn shot the soldier on the rack—that would be a hoot. Then they would know what real torture is. But with them it’s all zindan this and zindan that. I think they just like the word.

    2009 February 3, Arkady Babchenko, One Soldier's War, Grove Press, →ISBN

Origin

  1. Classical Persianزِنْدَان
  2. Russianзинда́н
  3. Englishzindan

Borrowed from Russian зинда́н (zindán), from Classical Persian زِنْدَان (zindān).

More words from Russian, Classical Persian

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian занда́н
  • занда́н (zandán)translations to be checked
Persian زِندان
  • زِندان (zendân)translations to be checked
Russian зинда́н
  • зинда́н (zindán)translations to be checked
Turkish zindan
  • zindantranslations to be checked
Cite this entry
APA

zindan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zindan

MLA

“zindan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zindan. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “zindan,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/zindan.

Source: zindan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.