English Explanatory Dictionary

swastika

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  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.
name
  1. A female given name from Sanskrit used in India.

Pronunciation

/ˈswɒstɪkə/ /ˈswɒstəkə/ /ˈswɑstɪkə/ /ˈswɑstəkə/ en-us-swastika.ogg /ˈswɔstɘkɘ/

Word forms

swastika swastikas

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).

Synonyms

Black Spider cross gammadion gammadion gammation hooked cross sauvastika sun wheel tetraskelion twisted cross sauwastika crooked cross cross cramponned cross cramponnée cross cramponny fylfot lauburu manji thunder cross hakenkreuz

Derived words

half-swastika Swasticar swastikaed swastikalike swooshtika zwastika
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