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Aus·tri·a

(ôstrē-ə)

A landlocked country of central Europe. Settled by Celtic tribes, the region was conquered (15 BC-AD 10) by the Romans and later (8th century) by Charlemagne, who made it a border state of the Carolingian Empire. In the 13th century, Austria passed to the Habsburg family and remained the core of their vast holdings until the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918, when Austria became a republic. Annexed by Adolf Hitler in 1938 and occupied by French, British, Soviet, and American forces in 1945 at the end of World War II, Austria regained full sovereignty in 1955. Vienna is the capital and the largest city.

Austri·an adj. & n.

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Austria

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.

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