Definition of: Tocharian

(tō·kâr′ē·ən, -kär′-) noun
1. One of an ancient cultured people known to the Greeks and Chinese as having inhabited central Asia in the first Christian millennium: conquered by the Uigurs.
2. The language of the Tocharians, belonging to the centum division of the Indo-European language family: unknown before 1904, when it was brought to light through manuscripts of the seventh century found in ruined temples in Chinese Turkestan. Two dialects have been distinguished, usually referred to as Tocharian A and Tocharian B. Also spelled Tokharian.