Mephistopheles

/ˌmɛ.fɪˈstɒ.fɪ.liːz/

//ˌmɛ.fɪˈstɒ.fɪ.liːz// name

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"mephistopheles" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Mephistopheles” is uncommon English (frequency #72,539 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,539
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The Devil to whom Faust sold his soul in the legend.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mephistopheles · Mephistopheles · English

Mephistopheles · rank #72,539 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,539
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH Mercosur

Nearest frequency peer: Mercosur (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “Mephistopheles”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “Mephistopheles” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Mephistopheles
PropertyValue
HeadwordMephistopheles
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˌmɛ.fɪˈstɒ.fɪ.liːz/
Letters14
Frequency rank#72,539
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Mephistopheles” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).Mephistophelesfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Mercosur” (#72,540), “mesas” (#72,541), “Melchior” (#72,536). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “Mephistopheles” is #72,539. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Mephistopheles is uncommon English at frequency #72,539 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˌmɛ.fɪˈstɒ.fɪ.liːz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The Devil to whom Faust sold his soul in the legend.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for Mephistopheles, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: Uncertain. The two-time occurrence of -ph- which is the Roman transliteration for Ancient Greek φ and of the termination -es which transliterates Ancient Greek -ης as in Aristoteles (Ἀριστοτέλης) along with the resemblance -phel-/-phil- bears to φιλεῖν (phi… The correct English form is Mephistopheles, spelled M-E-P-H-I-S-T-O-P-H-E-L-E-S.

Definition

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

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Mephistopheles appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. 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.
  2. 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

Etymology

Uncertain. The two-time occurrence of -ph- which is the Roman transliteration for Ancient Greek φ and of the termination -es which transliterates Ancient Greek -ης as in Aristoteles (Ἀριστοτέλης) along with the resemblance -phel-/-phil- bears to φιλεῖν (phileîn, “to love”) has led many to believe that this must originally be a Greek compound word. Based on this assumption, the first two letters have been identified with μή (mḗ, “not”), while -phisto-/-phosto- has been interpreted as a corruption of φωτο- (phōto-), the compositional form of φῶς (phôs, “light”). The name would thus mean "not loving light" which seems fitting for a devil. However, there are two major problems with this theory. Firstly, phōto- is a common and clearly recognizable morpheme in Greek, making it an unlikely candidate for corruption. Secondly, μή (mḗ) is not typically used in Ancient Greek name formation. A more credible explanation has been proposed by Julius Goebel. He focuses on the alternative form Mephistophiel, which appears in the Praxis Cabulae nigrae Doctoris Johannis Fausti magi celeberrimi (1612). He interprets mephist- as a disguised form of megist-, transliterating μέγιστος (mégistos, “greatest”), an epithet of Hermes in the title of Ἑρμῆς Τρισμέγιστος (Hermês Trismégistos, “thrice-greatest Hermes”) who was the guardian-god of the magicians, astrologers and alchemists. The second part, -ophiel, is interpreted as the proper name Ophiel, composed of ὄφις (óphis, “serpent”) and -ήλ (-ḗl), which is the Hebrew אֵל (“god, deity”). The derivation of demon names in -el from non-Hebrew bases was common in magic-books of the 16th and 17th century; other examples include Kyniel from Greek κύων (kúōn, “dog”) and Ariel from ariēs (“ram”). Ophiel thus means "serpent-god" and refers to Hermes, who wields the κηρύκειον (kērúkeion), a staff entwined with two serpents. The appearance of Ophiel in the Wagnerbook and the Arbatel, where it is listed as another name for Mercury, supports this interpretation. Goebel therefore identifies Mephistopheles with Hermes Trismegistos and the planetary figure of Mercury. Wilhelm Roscher proposed a similar explanation for the name in his Ephialtes-monography about demons, where he states the name to be traceable back to *Μεγιστωφέλης (*Megistōphélēs), from μέγιστος (mégistos), as stated above, and ὠφελέω (ōpheléō, “to help”).https://archive.org/details/ephialteseinepa00roscgoog/page/n102/mode/1up

This word in other languages

Méphistophélès(Français)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Mephistopheles"?
"Mephistopheles" is spelled M-E-P-H-I-S-T-O-P-H-E-L-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌmɛ.fɪˈstɒ.fɪ.liːz/.
What does "Mephistopheles" mean?
As a proper noun, "Mephistopheles" means: The Devil to whom Faust sold his soul in the legend.
How do you pronounce "Mephistopheles"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Mephistopheles" is /ˌmɛ.fɪˈstɒ.fɪ.liːz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "Mephistopheles"?
Uncertain. The two-time occurrence of -ph- which is the Roman transliteration for Ancient Greek φ and of the termination -es which transliterates Ancient Greek -ης as in Aristoteles (Ἀριστοτέλης) along with the resemblance -phel-/-phil- bears to φ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Mephistopheles", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 14 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

popularization#72,662carcinogenesis#73,040centrifugation#73,052homogenization#73,271

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list