A region of the central Caucasus. The area was annexed by Russia between 1801 and 1806 and is now split into North Ossetia, an autonomous republic of the Russian Federation, and South Ossetia, a region of Georgia.
Ossetian Os·se'tian adj. & n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
