Faustian bargain

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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈfaʊstɪən ˈbɑːɡən/
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• Received-Pronunciation: /-ɡɪn/
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• Received-Pronunciation: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• General-American: /ˈfaʊstiən ˈbɑːɹɡən/
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• rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)ɡən
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From the medieval legend of Faust, who made a contract with the Devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. The story first appeared in print in an anonymously written chapbook, Historia von D. Johann Fausten (1587), which purported to contain tales about the life of the German alchemist and magician Johann Georg Faust (c. 1466 or 1480 – c. 1541). It was 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).

21 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Dutch: duivelspact — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• Finnish: faustilainen sopimus — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• Finnish: sopimus paholaisen kanssa — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• French: pacte faustien — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• French: pacte avec le diable — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• German: Teufelspakt — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• Hebrew: עסקה פאוסטיאנית — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• Italian: patto col diavolo — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• Polish: pakt z diabłem — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• Portuguese: barganha faustiana — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• Romanian: pact cu diavolul — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• Russian: сде́лка с дья́волом (sdélka s dʹjávolom) — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• Serbo-Croatian: faustovska pogodba — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• Serbo-Croatian: ugovor s vragom — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• Serbo-Croatian: ugovor s đavlom — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• Serbo-Croatian: ugovor s đavolom — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• Spanish: pacto fáustico — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• Spanish: pacto con el diablo — agreement in which a person abandons spiritual values or moral principles in order to obtain benefits
• Finnish: faustilainen sopimus — deal in which one focuses on present gain without considering the long-term consequences
• Finnish: sopimus paholaisen kanssa — deal in which one focuses on present gain without considering the long-term consequences
• Portuguese: barganha faustiana — deal in which one focuses on present gain without considering the long-term consequences