The Collaborative International Dictionary
Swastika \Swas"ti*ka\, Swastica \Swas"ti*ca\, n. [Also suastica, svastika, etc.] [Skr. svastika, fr. svasti walfare; su well + asti being.] A symbol or ornament in the form of a Greek cross with the ends of the arms at right angles all in the same direction, and each prolonged to the height of the parallel arm of the cross. A great many modified forms exist, ogee and volute as well as rectilinear, while various decorative designs, as Greek fret or meander, are derived from or closely associated with it. The swastika is found in remains from the Bronze Age in various parts of Europe, esp. at Hissarlik (Troy), and was in frequent use as late as the 10th century. It is found in ancient Persia, in India, where both Jains and Buddhists used (or still use) it as religious symbol, in China and Japan, and among Indian tribes of North, Central, and South America. It is usually thought to be a charm, talisman, or religious token, esp. a sign of good luck or benediction. Max M["u]Ller distinguished from the swastika, with arms prolonged to the right, the suavastika, with arms prolonged to the left, but this distinction is not commonly recognized. Other names for the swastika are fylfot and gammadion.
Note: The swastika with arms bent to the right came to be used used as a symbol of Aryan supremacy by the Nazi party in Germany, 1933 - 1945; hence, it is now associated in the United States and European countries with Nazism or antisemitism. It is sometimes used by neo-nazis, or by antisemites as an antisemitic symbol.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
supposedly a native name for the swastika (used as a decorative device), but only attested in a single, damaged c.1500 manuscript, and in that it might rather refer to any sort of device used to fill the bottom (foot) of a design. "[I]t is even possible that it may have been a mere nonce-word" [OED].
Wiktionary
n. A swastika, especially one with the arms bent in an anticlockwise direction.
Wikipedia
Fylfot or fylfot cross (FILL-fot), is a synonym for swastika or " tetraskelion." It is a cross with perpendicular extensions, usually at 90° or close angles, radiating in the same direction.
According to some modern texts on heraldry, such as Friar and Woodcock and Robinson (see below), the fylfot is upright and typically with truncated limbs, as shown in the figure at right.
Usage examples of "fylfot".
Jantor made the fylfot sign on his shiny head and regarded Blade with narrowed eyes.
He scratched the hair on his chest, made the sign of the fylfot on his bald head, and regarded Blade with dull eyes.
On his shiny bald head were bloody streaks where he had made the fylfot sign.
He watched Blade, cringing and continually making the sign of the fylfot on his bald head, but now there was a crafty gleam in his reddish brown eyes.
The six Gnomen licked their lips, made the sign of the fylfot and took off.
They were round or oval, frames of wicker and shaped wood covered in hide and painted in gaudy shapes, the swastika-like fylfot, or animals.
And now a luminous tuft shot into his bedroom and threw a figure on the wall, a strange figure, something like a fylfot, and it came from the sitting-room.
Blade recognized the scarlet-dyed denims and the red fylfots drawn on each bald head.
His chariot was adorned with golden fylfots and the ears of men he had slain.
He saw Sart glance once at the slight body in the corner and again make the sign of the fylfot.
Arrogant fylfots snapped in the breeze along the boulevard, anchored to the buildings like strange, alien conquerors.