swastika

Meaning

1. A cross with arms of equal length all bent halfway along at a 90° angle to the right or to the left, used as a religious symbol by various ancient and modern civilizations, but now mainly seen and used in the West (with arms angled to the right) as a symbol of Nazism and fascism.
2. Nazi rule.

Synonyms

fylfot

tetraskelion

gammadion

Hakenkreuz

hooked cross

cross cramponnée

tetraskele

swastica

Translations

Hakenkreuz

Swastika

svastika

croix gammée

esvástica

hakenkruis

swastika

cruz gamada

gamalı haç

svastika

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈswɒstɪkə/

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit स्वस्तिक (svastika), from सु- (su-, “good, well”) + अस्ति (asti), a verbal abstract of the root of the verb "to be", स्वस्ति (svasti) thus meaning "well-being" — and the diminutive suffix क (ka); hence "little thing associated with well-being", corresponding roughly to "lucky charm". First attestation in English in 1871, a Sanskritism that replaced the Grecian term gammadion. From 1932 onwards it often referred specifically to the version used by the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (also called the "hooked cross", or German Hakenkreuz).