Mephistopheles

[ mef-uh-stof-uh-leez ]

/ ˌmɛf əˈstɒf əˌliz /

noun

Medieval Demonology. one of the seven chief devils and the tempter of Faust.

Also Me·phis·to

[muh-fis-toh] /məˈfɪs toʊ/.

Related formsMeph·is·to·phe·li·an, Meph·is·to·phe·le·an

[‐stuh-fee-lee-uh n] /‐stəˈfi li ən/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mephistopheles

But these kids make for wan enemies, after the Mephistopheles Berezovsky almost too small to pick on.
Putin Needs an Enemy After Berezovsky’s Death|Peter Pomerantsev|March 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Mephistopheles is but the creature of our fancy, and exists but in the fears, the passions, the desires of mankind.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 103, May, 1866|Various
The battle would continue until Mephistopheles retired to a safer place.
Birds and all Nature, Vol. VII, No. 4, April 1900|Various
He slapped him on the shoulder as Mephistopheles might gleefully claim his own, crying, "Immense!"
Murder in Any Degree|Owen Johnson

At its close Mephistopheles warns him of the approach of Marguerite and conceals him behind a curtain.
The Standard Cantatas|George P. Upton
A happy line that he had learnt from Wills's "Mephistopheles" came into his mind as he crouched there.
Twelve Stories and a Dream|H. G. Wells

British Dictionary definitions for mephistopheles

Mephistopheles

Mephisto (məˈfɪstəʊ)

/ (ˌmɛfɪˈstɒfɪˌliːz) /

noun

a devil in medieval mythology and the one to whom Faust sold his soul in the Faust legend

Derived FormsMephistophelean or Mephistophelian (ˌmɛfɪstəˈfiːlɪən), adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mephistopheles

Mephistopheles

1590s, the evil spirit to whom Faust sold his soul in the German legend, from German (1587), of unknown origin. According to the speculation of eminent Göthe scholar K.J. Schröer (1886) it is a compound of Hebrew mephitz "destroyer" + tophel "liar" (short for tophel sheqer, literally "falsehood plasterer;" cf. Job xiii:4). Klein writes that the names of devils in the Middle Ages "are in most cases derived from Hebrew."

Culture definitions for mephistopheles

Mephistopheles

[ (mef-i-stof-uh-leez) ]

In the drama Faust by Goethe, a devil who tempts Faust into selling his soul to the powers of darkness. Mephistopheles also appears, with his name spelled Mephistophilis, in the sixteenth-century English play Doctor Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe.

Mephistopheles

noun

RELATED WORDS

Examples from the Web for mephistopheles

Mephistopheles

Mephisto (məˈfɪstəʊ)

noun

Mephistopheles

Mephistopheles