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Ro·ma·ni·a (rō-mānē-ə, -mānyə) or Ru·ma·ni·a (r-)
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A country of southeast Europe with a short coastline on the Black Sea. Originally a Roman province, the area was conquered from the 3rd to the 12th century by a succession of invaders, including Goths, Huns, Magyars, and Mongols. In the 13th century two principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia, emerged, becoming vassal states within the Ottoman Empire and eventually Russian protectorates. They were united in 1862 and became independent in 1878. The rise of fascism in the 1930s led to the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a dictatorship in 1940. Following Romania's surrender to the USSR during World War II, the country was declared (1947) a communist republic, which was overthrown in 1989 with army-supported countrywide revolts. Bucharest is the capital and the largest city.
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Romania

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.