Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Babism \Bab"ism\, Babiism \Bab"i*ism\, n.
   The doctrine of a modern religious pantheistical sect in
   Persia, which was founded, about 1844, by Mirza Ali Mohammed
   ibn Rabhik (1820 -- 1850), who assumed the title of
   Bab-ed-Din (Per., Gate of the Faith). Babism is a mixture of
   Mohammedan, Christian, Jewish, and Parsi elements. This
   doctrine forbids concubinage and polygamy, and frees women
   from many of the degradations imposed upon them among the
   orthodox Mohammedans. Mendicancy, the use of intoxicating
   liquors and drugs, and slave dealing, are forbidden;
   asceticism is discountenanced. -- {Bab"ist}, n.