swastika

[swos-ti-kuh, swas-]

noun

1. a figure used as a symbol or an ornament in the Old World and in America since prehistoric times, consisting of a cross with arms of equal length, each arm having a continuation at right angles.

2. this figure as the official emblem of the Nazi party and the Third Reich.

swastika

/ ˈswɒstɪkə /

noun

1. a primitive religious symbol or ornament in the shape of a Greek cross, usually having the ends of the arms bent at right angles in either a clockwise or anticlockwise direction

2. this symbol with clockwise arms, officially adopted in 1935 as the emblem of Nazi Germany

Other Word Forms

• swastikaed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of swastika¹

1850–55; < Sanskrit svastika, equivalent to su- good, well (cognate with Greek eu- eu- ) + as- be ( is ) + -ti- abstract noun suffix + -ka secondary noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of swastika¹

C19: from Sanskrit svastika, from svasti prosperity; from the belief that it brings good luck

Example Sentences

The stripes remain, but there are no stars, only a swastika.

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Police are searching for a man who drew a swastika outside a Beverly Hills elementary school on Monday, which marked the start of the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah.

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Sam Higgins, 54, who co-led the clean up, said most of the "vandalism" was made up of St George's Crosses, but swastikas were also found along a subway, alongside text which read: "Stop the boats."

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And sure enough, when Gray’s attorneys sent me the cover page of his file, there it was, in the upper right corner: a small doodle of a swastika.

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John Williams, 32, of Ventura admitted this week that he had vandalized public and private property with swastikas.

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