caravan

Pronunciation: /ˈkæɹəvæn/

The English word “caravan” has 5 meanings listed here.

noun

A convoy or procession of travellers, their cargo and vehicles, and any pack animals, especially camels crossing a desert.
A furnished vehicle towed behind a car, etc., and used as a dwelling when stationary.
A group of camels, especially when used as beasts of burden carrying people and merchandise.

verb

To travel in a caravan (procession).
To travel and/or live in a caravan (vehicle).

Etymology

From Middle French caravane, from Old French carvane, from Persian کاروان (kârvân), from Middle Persian kʾlwʾn' (kārawān), from Old Persian 𐎣𐎠𐎼 (k-a-r, “people, subjects”). The word was used to designate a group of people who were travelling by camel or horse on the Silk Road. Doublet of Kairouan.

Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “caravan” there

More English words

About this dictionary

The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.

Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.