Cad*me"an (kăd*m>emac/"an),
a. [L. Cadmeus, Gr.
Kadmei^os, from Ka`dmos (L. Cadmus),
which name perhaps means lit. a man from the East; cf. Heb.
qedem east.] Of or pertaining to Cadmus, a fabulous
prince of Thebes, who was said to have introduced into Greece the
sixteen simple letters of the alphabet -- α, β,
γ, δ, ε, ι, κ, λ, μ,
ν, ō, π, ρ, σ, τ, υ. These
are called Cadmean letters.
Cadmean victory, a victory that damages
the victors as much as the vanquished; probably referring to the
battle in which the soldiers who sprang from the dragon's teeth
sown by Cadmus slew each other.