Romania

American

[roh-mey-nee-uh, ‑-meyn-yuh] / roʊˈmeɪ ni ə, ‑ˈmeɪn yə /

noun

a republic in southeastern Europe, bordering on the Black Sea. 91,699 sq. mi. (237,500 sq. km). Bucharest.

Romania British

/ rəʊˈmeɪnɪə /

noun

a republic in SE Europe, bordering on the Black Sea: united in 1861; became independent in 1878; Communist government set up in 1945; became a socialist republic in 1965; a more democratic regime was installed after a revolution in 1989; joined the EU in 2007. It consists chiefly of a great central arc of the Carpathian Mountains and Transylvanian Alps, with the plains of Walachia, Moldavia, and Dobriya on the south and east and the Pannonian Plain in the west Official language: Romanian. Religion: Romanian Orthodox (Christian) majority. Currency: leu. Capital: Bucharest Pop: 21 790 479 (2013 est). Area: 237 500 sq km (91 699 sq miles)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Romania Cultural

Republic in southeastern Europe on the northeast Balkan Peninsula, bordered by Hungary to the northwest, Ukraine to the northeast, Moldova and the Black Sea to the east, Bulgaria to the south, and the former Yugoslavia to the southwest. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest.

Discover More

During World War II, Romania was allied to the Axis Powers but joined the Allies in 1944.

Occupied by Soviet troops in 1944, Romania became a people's republic on the model of the Soviet Union in 1947.

A former Eastern Bloc country, Romania was ruled in the 1970s and 1980s by communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who was overthrown and executed during a bloody revolution in 1989. (See collapse of communism.)

Etymology

Origin of Romania

First recorded in 1800–05 as ( Roumania); from French Roumanie, from Romanian România Romania, ultimately from Latin adjective Rōmānus “Roman” + -ia noun suffix; in English Romania has been the predominant spelling since around 1975; Romania is also the official English-language spelling used by the Romanian government

Compare meaning

How does romania compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

Rumania vs. Romania

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But Romania, whether on or off the studio lot, only occasionally musters a decent impression of 19th century Virginia, reminding you, as “The Gray House” often does, that this is only a movie.

From Los Angeles Times

McCoy, 45, has since relocated to Romania and works as a consultant helping other Americans with more limited means join the emigrant wave.

From The Wall Street Journal

There was an early sign of things to come in 1957 when Republic of Ireland B took on Romania B in Dublin.

From BBC

In Romania, researchers recently examined a bacterial strain that had been trapped in a 5,000-year-old layer of ice inside an underground cave.

From Science Daily

Mayze fled abroad afterwards, triggering a manhunt by South Wales Police, with bank payments made in Dublin, France, Italy, Croatia and Greece before he was eventually arrested in Romania in July 2025.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023