Cadmean \Cad*me"an\ (k[a^]d*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 -- [alpha], [beta], [gamma], [delta], [epsilon], [iota], [kappa], [lambda], [mu], [nu], [omicron], [pi], [rho], [sigma], [tau], [upsilon]. 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)