hexagram

English

Hexagram as a 6-pointed star

The 64 hexagrams of the I Ching

Hexagram as a Byzantine coin

Etymology

From hexa- +‎ -gram.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛksəɡɹæm/

Noun

hexagram (plural hexagrams)

1. A hollow six-pointed star formed by overlapping two equilateral triangles. [1826]

   Synonyms: kagome, Magen David, rhombus star, Shield of David, Star of David, Star of Life

2. Any of the 64 sets of solid and broken lines, formed by pairs of trigrams, used for divination in the I Ching. [1804]
3. A large silver coin minted during the Byzantine Empire.

Alternative forms

• hexagramme (rare)

Related terms

• (star shape): pentagram (5-pointed), heptagram (7-pointed), octogram (8-pointed), nonagram (9-pointed), decagram (10-pointed)
• (divination): monogram, bigram, digram, trigram, tetragram

Translations

star shape

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 六角星 (zh) (liùjiǎoxīng)

• Finnish: kuusikanta, heksagrammi
• French: hexagramme (fr) m
• German: Hexagramm n
• Hindi: षट्रेखा f (ṣaṭrekhā)
• Hungarian: csillaghatszög (hu)
• Japanese: 六角星 (ろっかくせい, rokkakusei), 六芒星 (ろくぼうせい, rokubōsei, りくぼうせい, rikubōsei)
• Kazakh: жұлдызды алтыбұрыш (jūldyzdy altybūryş), гексаграмма (geksagramma)
• Macedonian: хексаграм (heksagram)
• Polish: heksagram m
• Russian: гексагра́мма (ru) f (geksagrámma)
• Serbo-Croatian: хекаграм, hekagram

See also

• (I Ching hexagrams): ䷀, ䷁, ䷂, ䷃, ䷄, ䷅, ䷆, ䷇, ䷈, ䷉, ䷊, ䷋, ䷌, ䷍, ䷎, ䷏, ䷐, ䷑, ䷒, ䷓, ䷔, ䷕, ䷖, ䷗, ䷘, ䷙, ䷚, ䷛, ䷜, ䷝, ䷞, ䷟, ䷠, ䷡, ䷢, ䷣, ䷤, ䷥, ䷦, ䷧, ䷨, ䷩, ䷪, ䷫, ䷬, ䷭, ䷮, ䷯, ䷰, ䷱, ䷲, ䷳, ䷴, ䷵, ䷶, ䷷, ䷸, ䷹, ䷺, ䷻, ䷼, ䷽, ䷾, ䷿