Mephistopheles

English

Alternative forms

• Mephisto
• Mephostopheles (dated)

Etymology

Apparently a corrupted Greek compound. The Greek particle of negation (μη (mi)) and the Greek word for love or loving (φίλος (fílos)) are the first and last terms of the compound but the middle term is more doubtful. For the middle term, three meanings have been noticed and three different etymologies have been proposed: 1) not loving light (φως (fos); the old form of the word being Mephostopheles), 2) not loving Faust, 3) akin to mephitic, a term which refers to the poisonous vapors arising from the earth in certain places destructive to human life.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌmɛ.fɪˈstɒ.fɪ.liːz/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Proper noun

Mephistopheles

1. The Devil to whom Faust sold his soul in the legend.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:Satan

   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 215:

     I let him run on, this papier-maché Mephistopheles, and it seemed to me that if I tried I could poke my forefinger through him, and find nothing inside but a little loose dirt, maybe.

   • 2007, “Videotape”, in In Rainbows, performed by Radiohead:

     When I'm at the pearly gates / This'll be on my videotape, my videotape / When Mephistopheles is just beneath / And he's reaching up to grab me

Derived terms

• Mephistophelean

Translations

Devil to whom Faust sold his soul

• Arabic: مِفِسْتُوفِيلِيس m (mifistūfīlīs)
• Armenian: Մեֆիստոֆելես (Mefistofeles)
• Catalan: Mefistòfil
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 梅菲斯托費勒斯 / 梅菲斯托费勒斯 (Méifēisītuōfèilèsī)

• Czech: Mefistofeles m
• Dutch: Mephistopheles m
• Esperanto: Mefistofelo
• Finnish: Mefisto
• French: Méphistophélès (fr) m
• Georgian: მეფისტოფელი (mepisṭopeli)
• German: Mephistopheles m
• Greek: Μεφιστοφελής (el) m (Mefistofelís)
• Italian: Mefistofele m
• Japanese: メフィストフェレス (Mefisutoferesu)
• Korean: 메피스토펠레스 (Mepiseutopelleseu)
• Marathi: मेफिस्टोफीलीस m (mephisṭophīlīs)
• Occitan: Mefistofeles m
• Polish: Mefistofeles (pl) m
• Portuguese: Mefistófeles m
• Russian: Мефисто́фель (ru) m (Mefistófelʹ)
• Spanish: Mefistófeles m
• Ukrainian: Мефісто́фель m (Mefistófelʹ)

Noun

Mephistopheles

1. A fiendish person, especially one who tricks someone into following a destructive or disastrous course of action; a tempter.
   • 1989, Tim Smith (lyrics and music), “Fast Robert”, in On Land and in the Sea, performed by Cardiacs:

     Poison in my idle mind makes quick work for the Mephistopheles, / Who quickly makes his excuses

Further reading

• Mephistopheles on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

German

Alternative forms

• Mephisto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mefɪsˈtoːfelɛs/
• Hyphenation: Me‧phis‧to‧phe‧les; pre-1996: Me‧phi‧sto‧phe‧les

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Mephistopheles m (proper noun, strong, genitive Mephistopheles)

1. Mephistopheles

Declension

Declension of Mephistopheles [sg-only, masculine, strong]

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Mephistopheles
genitive	eines	des	Mephistopheles
dative	einem	dem	Mephistopheles
accusative	einen	den	Mephistopheles

Derived terms

• mephistophelisch

Further reading

• “Mephistopheles” in Duden online
• “Mephistopheles” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache