A historical region of northwest Italy bordering on France and Switzerland. Occupied by Rome in the 1st century B.C., it passed to Savoy in the 11th century and was the center of the Italian Risorgimento after 1814.

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.