Teufelskreis

German

Etymology

From Teufel (“devil”) +‎ Kreis (“circle”), a loose calque of Latin circulus vitiosus (also circulus diaboli, but possibly restricted to New Latin and then perhaps after the German).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɔʏ̯fl̩sˌkʁaɪ̯s/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Teu‧fels‧kreis

Noun

Teufelskreis m (strong, genitive Teufelskreises, plural Teufelskreise)

1. vicious circle, vicious cycle

Declension

Declension of Teufelskreis [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Teufelskreis	die	Teufelskreise
genitive	eines	des	Teufelskreises	der	Teufelskreise
dative	einem	dem	Teufelskreis, Teufelskreise1	den	Teufelskreisen
accusative	einen	den	Teufelskreis	die	Teufelskreise

¹Now rare, see notes.

See also

• Irrtum
• Täuschung
• Trugschluss
• Zirkelschluss

Further reading

• “Teufelskreis” in Duden online