Main Entry: Fa·bi·an

Pronunciation: \ˈfā-bē-ən\

Function: adjective

Date: 1638

1 a : of, relating to, or in the manner of the Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus known for his defeat of Hannibal in the Second Punic War by the avoidance of decisive contests b : cautious, dilatory
2 [the Fabian Society; from the members' belief in slow rather than revolutionary change in government] : of, relating to, or being a society of socialists organized in England in 1884 to spread socialist principles gradually

— Fabian noun

— Fa·bi·an·ism \-ə-ˌni-zəm\ noun