caravanserai C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary Also spelled caravansary US /ˌkærəˈvænsəˌraɪ/ UK /ˌkærəˈvænsəraɪ/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun an inn with a central court for caravans along Eastern trade routes The merchants rested their camels at a desert caravanserai. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · an inn with a central court... inncaravansaryhostelrykhanroadhouse Word family Related forms caravan Etymology AI details From Persian kārvānsarāy, a compound of kārvān ('caravan') and sarāy ('palace, inn, enclosed building'). kārvānsarāy Persian View etymology graph -> Topics General Vocabulary External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # caravanserai **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˌkærəˈvænsəˌraɪ/ **IPA (UK):** /ˌkærəˈvænsəraɪ/ ## Meanings 1. an inn with a central court for caravans along Eastern trade routes ## Examples - The merchants rested their camels at a desert caravanserai. ## Synonyms - inn - caravansary - hostelry - khan - roadhouse ## Related Forms - caravan ## Roots and Affixes - Root: kārvānsarāy ## Etymology From Persian kārvānsarāy, a compound of kārvān ('caravan') and sarāy ('palace, inn, enclosed building'). ## AI Etymology Caravanserai comes from Persian kārvānsarāy, a compound of kārvān ('caravan') and sarāy ('palace, inn, enclosed building'). The historical trail runs through kārvānsarāy in Persian. Morphologically, caravanserai is transparent: it draws on Persian kārvānsarāy, a compound of kārvān ('caravan') and sarāy ('palace, inn, enclosed building'). Used as a noun, caravanserai now means "an inn with a central court for caravans along Eastern trade routes", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as caravan. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English. ## Topics - General Vocabulary markdown