noun

1. a design or ornament of ancient origin in the form of a cross with four equal arms, each bent in a right-angle extension: a mystic symbol found in both the Old World and the New World
2. this design with the arms bent back clockwise, used in Nazi Germany and by other Nazi fascists as a party emblem and symbol of anti-Semitism

Etymology: Sans svastika < svasti, well-being, benediction < su, well (< IE base *su-, var. of *swe-, *sewe-: see suicide) + asti, he is: for IE base see is