Prince of Darkness
1
8.8
- noun
- Literature
:
Príncipe de las Tinieblas
- In many stories, the Prince of Darkness is depicted as the ultimate adversary of good.
Examples
-
Louis, Lucifer, the Prince of Darkness.
-
They say the Prince of Darkness is a gentleman, and, as it turns out, they're right.
-
Show me you are the Prince of Darkness.
-
Quit playing the Prince of Darkness and kiss me.
-
What was that, just a cry for help, O Prince of Darkness?
-
The Prince of Darkness... is upon the land.
-
'This is the Prince of Darkness asking you to stay with us, 'because we're about to bring you into the light.'
-
You can't run from me, Prince of Darkness!
-
I think when Lucifer, Prince of Darkness, King of Hell asks you to do something, you do it.
-
So, the Prince of Darkness wants to conquer the Earth, but has to wait until an hour before midnight of New Year's Eve ?
Synonyms
321
4.2
A main evil spirit in some religions who tempts people and rules Hell
318
5.3
A powerful spirit that represents evil and tempts people
104
7.7
A powerful evil being who opposes God and tempts people
8
9.9
A powerful evil spirit often shown as leader of demons in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic stories
1
9.9
A name for the Devil who tempts people and rules Hell
A figure like Satan who tries to make people do wrong
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase composes straightforwardly from 'prince' (a leader) and 'darkness' (a common metaphor for evil), so learners can infer it means a leader or chief of evil. However, identifying the fixed referent (Satan) and recognizing 'darkness' as moral evil rather than literal lack of light requires cultural/religious knowledge, so the relation is only partially predictable for a B1 learner.
Etymology
Prince of Darkness is a name from old religious stories where Prince means a ruler and darkness stands for evil or the lack of God's light. So the phrase paints the picture of a powerful leader of evil, and that's why people use it today to mean 'Satan'.