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Glite Dictionary
🚫 Nazi symbol 🛕 Religious sign
swastika

swastika

1 8.7
An ancient religious symbol of good luck later linked to Nazism
  • noun
  • /ˈswɑːstɪkə/
  • Offensive
: esvástica
  • The swastika predates the Nazis' version by thousands of years and has a place

So we had this kid Scotty on our bus one day and we just drew a big swastika that's on his shirt and like really?

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Examples

  • The swastika symbol was around long before the Nazis chose it for their notorious emblem.

    Blog text (33)

  • The swastika in the center is more than eight feet tall.

    Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (2018)

  • The swastika, however, is a much older symbol than the SS members may have known.

    Blog text (34)

  • On his chest is a Buddhist swastika, a symbol of luck that was later co-opted by the Nazi Party of Germany.

    Blog text (26)

  • The motif also occurs by itself as a swastika on a copper ornament and a plain cross-in-circle on a shell ornament.

    Academic text (2002)

  • The ancient swastika is often seen in Hindu temples as a symbol of good fortune.

  • In many cultures, the swastika represents peace and spirituality.

  • During the exhibition, we learned how the swastika was originally a sacred symbol before its adoption by the Nazis.

Synonyms

Hakenkreuz
vsswastika
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A cross with bent arms used as the symbol of the Nazi party called swastika

is the older, broader religious and cultural symbol beyond Nazi use

Compounds

half-swastika
  • Offensive
9.9

A design like half a swastika used in art to make people think

Surface Forms

swastika singular
swastikas plural

Etymology

Swastika comes from the old Sanskrit word svastika, made from su- meaning 'good' and asti meaning 'to be', so it originally meant 'good being' or 'good luck'. That is why many ancient temples and religions used the swastika as a sign of blessing, although its meaning was later changed in the West by Nazi use.