Link Centre Dictionary

Faustian

faus·tian

UK/ˈfaʊstɪən/ US/ˈfaʊstiən/ uncommon

adjective

1.

pertaining to or resembling or befitting Faust or Faustus especially in insatiably striving for worldly knowledge and power even at the price of spiritual values

  • “a Faustian pact with the Devil”

Origin

From the surname of the German alchemist and magician Johann Georg Faust (c. 1466 or 1480 - c. 1541) + -ian (suffix forming relational adjectives or nouns). According to medieval legend, Faust made a contract with the Devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Purported tales about Faust’s life first appeared in print in an anonymously written chapbook, Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1587). The story was then particularly popularized by two plays, Christopher Marlowe’s The Tragicall History of D. Faustus (first published 1604) and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust (published 1808 and 1832).

Related words

Pertaining to

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.