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swastika

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: Swastika, 卐, and 卍

English

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).

Pronunciation

Noun

swastika (countable and uncountable, plural swastikas)

  1. (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.
    • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Sending of Dana Da”, in In Black and White, Folio Society, published 2005, pages 423–4:
      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.
    • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 270:
      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.
    • 2016 October 16, Eric Bradner and Adrienne Shih, “Local GOP office in North Carolina firebombed”, in CNN‎:
      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.
    • 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:
      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.
  2. (fascism, history, metonymic, uncountable) Nazi rule.
    • 1989, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, spoken by Dr. Elsa Schneider (Alison Doody):
      "Is that what you think of me? I believe in the Grail, not the Swastika!"
    • 2011, Rudolph Herzog, translated by Jefferson Chase, Dead Funny: Humor in Hitler's Germany‎, Brooklyn: Melville House, →ISBN, page 36:
      “I can’t imagine anyone believes in Communist culprits instead of a contract job commissioned on behalf of the swastika.”

Synonyms

  • Black Spider
  • (in heraldry): crooked cross, cross cramponned, cross cramponnée, cross cramponny
  • cross gammadion, gammadion, gammation
  • (chiefly in architecture and heraldry) fylfot
  • (chiefly in India referring to the Nazi swastika) hakenkreuz
  • hooked cross
  • (chiefly in traditional Basque culture) lauburu
  • (chiefly in East Asian Buddhism) manji
  • (left-facing; symbolizing the night or the tantric aspects of Kali) sauwastika, sauvastika
  • sun wheel
  • tetraskelion
  • (chiefly in traditional Latvian culture) thunder cross
  • twisted cross

Holonyms

  • kolovrat (Slavic neopaganism, far-right politics)

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

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Dutch

Etymology

From Sanskrit स्वस्तिक (svastika).

Pronunciation

Noun

swastika f or m (plural swastika's)

  1. swastika
    Synonym: hakenkruis

French

Noun

swastika m or f (plural swastikas)

  1. alternative spelling of svastika

Further reading

Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay swastika. Ultimately from Sanskrit स्वस्तिक (svastika).

Noun

swastika (plural swastika-swastika)

  1. swastika

Further reading

Tagalog

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from English swastika, from Sanskrit स्वस्तिक (svastika).

Pronunciation

Noun

swástiká (Baybayin spelling ᜐ᜔ᜏᜐ᜔ᜆᜒᜃ)

  1. swastika

Further reading

  • “swastika”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

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