Mephistopheles
pronunciation
How to pronounce Mephistopheles in British English:
UK [ˌmefisˈtɔfili:z]
How to pronounce Mephistopheles in American English:
US [ˌmɛfɪˈstɑfəˌliz]
-
- Noun:
- evil spirit to whom Faust sold his soul
Word Origin
- 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;" see Job xiii:4). Klein writes that the names of devils in the Middle Ages "are in most cases derived from Hebrew."
Example
- 1. Faust , the fist , in other words , is our modern day demon , not mephistopheles , his devilish double .
- 2. After all , " he heard one of the younger men begin behind him ( everybody talked through the mephistopheles - and-martha scenes ) , " after all , just what happened ?
- 3. Mephistopheles is the diabolical aspect of every psychic function that has broken loose from the hierarchy of the total psyche and now enjoys independence and absolute power .
- 4. Mephistopheles ( demon ) , the embodiment of god , offered the conditions that as long as he could sell his conscience and true love to him , he could have the girl and countless fortune to complete endless great dreams .
- 5. This position was so awful that I can 't understand how she could laugh as she had done that day and feel interest in the words of mephistopheles , when she was in such horrible straits .