swastika
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈswɒstɪkə/
ipa: /ˈswɒstəkə/
ipa: /ˈswɑstɪkə/
ipa: /ˈswɑstəkə/
ipa: /ˈswɔstɘkɘ/
Forms: form: 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).
Senses: examples: text: This was signed by Dana Da, who added pentacles and pentagrams, and a crux ansata, and half-a-dozen swastikas, and a Triple Tau to his name, just to show that he was all he laid claim to be.
ref: 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Sending of Dana Da”, in In Black and White, Folio Society, published 2005, pages 423–4:
text: It is clear from archaeological finds that they enjoyed wearing Christian crosses, though they might enliven these with such symbols as the Indian swastika which Buddhists had brought them.
ref: 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 270:
text: A GOP office in Hillsborough, North Carolina, was firebombed over the weekend, with a swastika and the words “Nazi Republicans leave town or else” spray painted on an adjacent building, according to local officials.
ref: 2016 October 16, Eric Bradner and Adrienne Shih, “Local GOP office in North Carolina firebombed”, in CNN:
text: Authorities in Connecticut are investigating after swastikas were found drawn on a high school campus in Stamford for the second time since Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel earlier this month, the school district said.
ref: 2023 October 30, Sara Smart and Elizabeth Wolfe, “Swastikas found drawn on Connecticut high school campus for second time since Israel-Hamas war ignited, district says”, in CNN:
glosses: 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.
examples: text: "Is that what you think of me? I believe in the Grail, not the Swastika!"
ref: 1989, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, spoken by Dr. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody):
text: “I can’t imagine anyone believes in Communist culprits instead of a contract job commissioned on behalf of the swastika.”
ref: 2011, Rudolph Herzog, translated by Jefferson Chase, Dead Funny: Humor in Hitler's Germany, Brooklyn: Melville House, →ISBN, page 36:
topics: fascism
government
history
human-sciences
ideology
philosophy
politics
sciences
glosses: Nazi rule.
Synonyms: word: Black Spider
sense: in heraldry
word: crooked cross
sense: in heraldry
word: cross cramponned
sense: in heraldry
word: cross cramponnée
sense: in heraldry
word: cross cramponny
word: cross gammadion
word: gammadion
word: gammation
sense: chiefly in architecture and heraldry
word: fylfot
sense: chiefly in India referring to the Nazi swastika
word: hakenkreuz
word: hooked cross
sense: chiefly in traditional Basque culture
word: lauburu
sense: chiefly in East Asian Buddhism
word: manji
sense: left-facing; symbolizing the night or the tantric aspects of Kali
word: sauwastika
word: sauvastika
word: sun wheel
word: tetraskelion
sense: chiefly in traditional Latvian culture
word: thunder cross
word: twisted cross
Derived terms: half-swastika
Swasticar
zwastika