[From Italian fasci: groups (of men), in which the Italian Fascist movement began.]
(politics) A theory and practice of extreme nationalism that developed originally in Italy and spread throughout other parts of the world. Although fascism was ostensibly opposed to communism because it allowed private property (albeit under tight government control), it did not differ in essentials from other forms of 20th-century collectivism, authoritarianism, or totalitarianism.