swastika
UK /ˈswɒstɪkə/ · US /ˈswɑstɪkə/ noun, proper noun
Forms swastikas
- noun (countable) 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.
- noun (fascism, history, metonymic, uncountable) Nazi rule.
- proper noun A female given name from Sanskrit used in India.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Timiskaming district, Ontario, Canada.
- proper noun Former name of Brilliant: an unincorporated community in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States.
Synonyms
crooked cross cross cramponned cross cramponnée cross cramponny fylfot lauburu manji thunder cross hakenkreuz Black Spider cross gammadion gammadion gammation hooked cross sauvastika sun wheel tetraskelion twisted cross sauwastika
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).
Borrowed from Sanskrit स्वस्तिका (svastikā).
Named after the Swastika Gold Mine in 1907. The mine's name was inspired by a swastika necklace its owner saw.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A symbol or ornament in the form of a Greek cross with the ends of the arms at right angles all in the same direction, and each prolonged to the height of the parallel arm of the cross. A great many modified forms exist, ogee and volute as well as rectilinear, while various decorative designs, as Greek fret or meander, are derived from or closely associated with it. The swastika is found in remains from the Bronze Age in various parts of Europe, esp. at Hissarlik (Troy), and was in frequent use as late as the 10th century. It is found in ancient Persia, in India, where both Jains and Buddhists
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “swastika”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details