Sieg Heil

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from German Sieg Heil, from Sieg (“victory”) + Heil, a common chant at political rallies in Nazi Germany, translating as “victory brings salvation” or alternatively as “salvation [to] victory” on the model of Heil Hitler.

Interjection

Sieg Heil

1. (historical) The greeting Sieg Heil, used by the Nazis, and by neo-Nazis and people comparing others to Nazis today.
   • [1971, Sydney Morrell, Spheres of Influence, page 216:

     "Ti-to! Ti-to! Ti-to!" has exactly the same rhythm and resonance as "Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!" at the Nazi demonstrations, or "Du-ce! Du-ce! Du-ce!" in Fascist Italy.]

   • 1991, James Davison Hunter, Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America, page 16:

     All of a sudden a number of the militant homosexuals stood up, raised their hands in a Nazi-style salute and began to chant "Sieg heil! Sieg heil! Sieg heil!" Everyone in the room was paralyzed. How could they accuse us — those who suffered and died in the Holocaust — of being Nazis?

   • 1995, Terry H. Anderson, The Movement and The Sixties, page 224:

     Tear gas floated into the Hilton, up the air vents, and into the suite of the vice president, who was preparing his acceptance speech. On the street, chanting: "Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil," and "The Whole World Is Watching."

   • 2002, John Rodden, Repainting the Little Red Schoolhouse: A History of Eastern German Education, page 202:

     And so, sometimes, did their direct effects. At many skinhead concerts, bands led fans in swastika flag-waving and chants of Sieg Heil!

   • 2004, Paul Taylor, Jews and the Olympic Games: The Clash Between Sport and Politics, page 101:

     Then a few voices started to chant "Sieg heil! Sieg heil!", and these were joined by more voices, and gradually the whole assembly rose to its feet.

   • 2007 October 8, Harry Davis, Palace of Crystal, Arena books, →ISBN:

     The omnious vast regimented rallies we have all seen on television, with adoring crowds shouting Sieg heil! and saluting in unison, were now a feature of German social life. In 1933 Hitler was in a position to seize power.

Derived terms

• Sieg Heil salute

Translations

Nazi greeting

• Arabic: زِيج هَايْل (zīg hāyl)
• Bulgarian: зиг хайл (zig hajl)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 勝利萬歲 / 胜利万岁 (shènglì wànsuì)

• German: Sieg Heil
• Greek: Ζήτω η Νίκη (Zíto i Níki)
• Hebrew: זיג הייל (zig hayl)
• Japanese: ジークハイル (jīkuhairu)
• Korean: 지크 하일 (jikeu hail)
• Marathi: झीक हाइल (jhīk hāil)
• Persian: درود بر پیروزی (dorôd bar pirôzi)
• Russian: зиг хайль (ru) (zig xajlʹ)
• Swedish: hell seger
• Ukrainian: зіґ хайль (zig xajlʹ)

Noun

Sieg Heil (plural Sieg Heils)

1. Ellipsis of Sieg Heil salute (“Nazi salute”).
   • 2000, Michael McClister, “The Fifth Day”, in Double Deal, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Dunne Books, →ISBN, page 187:

     In the other truck, Hi Hitler giggled piercingly, and the skinheads gave Sieg Heils.

   • 2012, Ada Wilson, “January 3rd 1990, 11am”, in Red Army Faction Blues, Pontefract, West Yorkshire: Route, →ISBN, page 200:

     And Jerry, Jerry doing Sieg Heils around the stage then, in that crumpled suit.

   • 2015, Chris Carter, Richard Skelton, “Sidecar racers”, in Chris Carter at Large: Stories from a Lifetime in Motorcycle Racing, Poundbury, Dorset: Veloce Publishing, →ISBN, chapter 5, pages 123–124:

     One year they fell foul of the organisers at the West German Grand Prix in some way and they kept goose stepping around the paddock, snapping their heels and doing Sieg Heils.

Verb

Sieg Heil (third-person singular simple present Sieg Heils, present participle Sieg Heiling, simple past and past participle Sieg Heiled)

1. (intransitive) To perform a Nazi salute, often while chanting Sieg Heil.
   • 2025 January 20, Charlie Warzel, “Did He? Elon Musk either had a slipped-mask moment, or is supremely awkward.”, in The Atlantic‎^[1], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2025-01-21:

     (It’s worth noting that the video Musk posted of his speech did not show Musk performing the gesture head-on—it cut away to the crowd; a C-SPAN clip shows it in full, though.) Eventually, he will almost certainly deny that he Sieg heiled.^[sic]

Alternative forms

• sieg-heil, sieg heil

German

Etymology

Literally, “health, victory”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ziːk haɪ̯l/

• Audio:

  (file)

Interjection

Sieg Heil

1. (Nazism) Sieg Heil

Usage notes

• Sieg Heil became the salute of the Nazi Party in the 1920s. It developed into the Nazi salute, the use of which was later made obligatory to all Germans in the Third Reich. After WWII, the public use of any form of the Hitler salute was criminalized in Germany and Austria. In Germany it is punishable with up to three years in prison.

See also

• deutscher Gruß
• Heil Hitler
• Hitlergruß
• Petri Heil
• Weidmanns Heil

Further reading

• “Sieg Heil” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache