caravan

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A vehicle with beds and cooking equipment that is pulled by a car and used as a home on holiday.

   Every summer they towed the caravan to the coast for two weeks.

2. 2
   noun

   A group of people and animals travelling together, especially across a desert.

   A caravan of camels crossed the desert carrying spices and silk.

3. 3
   verb

   To travel or take a holiday in a caravan.

   When my parents retired, they really got into caravanning.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Caravan entered English in the late 15th century through French from Persian kārwān. Its association with transporting goods led to its late-17th-century use for a covered wagon; this was shortened to van in the early 19th century, and caravan later also came to mean a mobile home.

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.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary