Nearby Words

saint fabian

[fey-bee-uhn] Origin

Fa·bi·an

[fey-bee-uhn]
noun
1.
Saint, died a.d. 250, pope 236–250.
2.
a male given name.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

Fabian
"socialist," from Fabian Society, founded in Britain 1884, named for Quintus Fabius Maximus (surnamed Cunctator "the Delayer"), the cautious tactician who opposed Hannibal in the Second Punic War. The Fabians sought to draw a distinction between their slow-going tactics and those of anarchists and communists.
EXPAND
The Latin gens name is possibly from faba "a bean."
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

Saint Fabian

pope from 236 to 250. The successor to St. Anterus, Fabian was an outstanding administrator and one of the great popes of the early church. He supposedly divided Rome into seven districts assigned to the seven deacons and is said to have founded several churches in France. His appointment of notaries to register the deeds of the martyrs reflected the increasing precision with which the Roman Catholic church began to keep records during his time. Martyred during the persecution of the Roman emperor Decius, he was buried in the catacomb of St. Calixtus; his body was later moved to St. Sebastian's, where his tomb was found in 1915.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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