D defs.my
Entry 4 senses Webster, 1913

fascism

/(făsh"ĭz'm)/ · fasc·ism · IPA /ˈfæʃɪz(ə)m/
01 n. a political theory advocating an authoritarian hierarchical government; -- opposed to democracy and liberalism.
  1. 1.
    a political theory advocating an authoritarian hierarchical government; -- opposed to democracy and liberalism.
  2. 2.
    an authoritarian system of government under absolute control of a single dictator, allowing no political opposition, forcibly suppressing dissent, and rigidly controlling most industrial and economic activities. Such regimes usually try to achieve popularity by a strongly nationalistic appeal, often mixed with racism.
  3. 3.
    Specifically, the Fascist movement led by Benito Mussolini in Italy from 1922 to 1943.
  4. 4.
    broadly, a tendency toward or support of a strongly authoritarian or dictatorial control of government or other organizations; -- often used pejoratively in this sense.