Faust

[ foust ]

noun
  1. Jo·hann [yoh-hahn], /ˈyoʊ hɑn/, c1480–c1538, German magician, alchemist, and astrologer.

  2. the chief character of a medieval legend, represented as selling his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power.

  1. (italics) a tragedy by Goethe (Part 1, 1808; Part 2, 1832).

  2. (italics) an opera (1859) by Charles Gounod.

Words Nearby Faust

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How to use Faust in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Faust

Faust

Faustus (ˈfaʊstəs)

/ (faʊst) /


noun
  1. German legend a magician and alchemist who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge and power

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

Cultural definitions for Faust

Faust

[ (fowst) ]


A legendary sixteenth-century magician and practitioner of alchemy, who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for youth, knowledge, and power. Christopher Marlowe, a sixteenth-century English poet, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote famous plays about him.

Notes for Faust

A “Faustian” bargain is one in which a person is willing to make extreme sacrifices for power or knowledge without considering the ultimate cost.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.