Present participle of 'heil'; greeting someone with 'heil' (a German greeting meaning 'health' or 'luck'), or making a salute associated with this greeting.
From German *heil* (health/luck), from Proto-Germanic *hail* (whole/unharmed). The term became historically loaded due to its use in Nazi salutes, though the original word is an innocent greeting.
The word 'heil' originally just meant 'health' in German, like saying 'cheers,' but it became forever tainted by history—a sobering reminder of how the same word can shift meaning based on how it's used by those in power.
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