caravan

[kar-uh-van]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR caravan ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a group of travelers, as merchants or pilgrims, journeying together for safety in passing through deserts, hostile territory, etc.

any group traveling in or as if in a caravan and using a specific mode of transportation, as pack animals or motor vehicles: a caravan of trucks; a camel caravan.

a large covered vehicle for conveying passengers, goods, a sideshow, etc.; van.

Chiefly British. a house on wheels; trailer.

verb (used with object), car·a·vaned or car·a·vanned, car·a·van·ing or car·a·van·ning.

to carry in or as if in a caravan: Trucks caravaned food and medical supplies to the flood's survivors.

verb (used without object), car·a·vaned or car·a·vanned, car·a·van·ing or car·a·van·ning.

to travel in or as if in a caravan: They caravaned through Egypt.

Origin of caravan

1590–1600; earlier carovan < Italian carovana < Persian kārwān

Related formscar·a·van·ist, noun

Synonyms for caravan

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR caravan ON THESAURUS.COM

1. parade, procession, train, cavalcade, band.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for caravan

cavalcade, convoy, procession, expedition, band, train, troop, safari

Examples from the Web for caravan

Contemporary Examples of caravan

A caravan of trams stuck in the middle of the medieval city waited in line for the protest to end.
Ukraine’s Home Front Grows War Weary
Anna Nemtsova
October 23, 2014
On May 13, 2014, a pickup truck approached a caravan of white vans moving on a road near Baqubah, east of Baghdad, in Iraq.
Iran Says It’s Under Attack by ISIS
Jassem Al Salami
October 9, 2014
I met a girl on holiday in a caravan park—which you guys call a trailer park—and she was from Northern Ireland.
Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy on 'Eleanor Rigby,' First Heartbreak, and Robin Williams
Marlow Stern
September 2, 2014
The caravan was carrying humanitarian aid, Russian authorities said.
Russia's Suspicious Humanitarian Aid for Ukraine Separatists
Anna Nemtsova
August 12, 2014
The progress of the caravan of SUVs and buses ferrying the embassy staff out to Tunisia was monitored in real-time in Washington.
U.S. Diplomats and Marines Close Embassy and Flee Libya Fighting
Jamie Dettmer
July 27, 2014

Historical Examples of caravan

At an angle calculated to intercept the caravan, Kingozi set off down the hill.
The Leopard Woman
Stewart Edward White
Thus the four tribes represented in his caravan were supplied.
The Leopard Woman
Stewart Edward White
This was our caravan, and God Almighty had created the elephant for us.
Meadow Grass
Alice Brown
Beside which, the caravan was moving at the majestic rate of about five miles a day.
The Forest
Stewart Edward White
In Hori I encountered a caravan of pilgrims returning from Mecca.
The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ
Nicolas Notovitch

British Dictionary definitions for caravan

caravan

noun

a large enclosed vehicle capable of being pulled by a car or lorry and equipped to be lived inUS and Canadian name: trailer
(as modifier)a caravan site

(esp in some parts of Asia and Africa) a company of traders or other travellers journeying together, often with a train of camels, through the desert

a group of wagons, pack mules, camels, etc, esp travelling in single file

a large covered vehicle, esp a gaily coloured one used by Romany Gypsies, circuses, etc

verb -vans, -vanning or -vanned

(intr) British to travel or have a holiday in a caravan

Derived Formscaravanning, noun

Word Origin for caravan

C16: from Italian caravana, from Persian kārwān

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

Word Origin and History for caravan

1580s, from Middle French caravane, from Old French carvane, carevane "caravan" (13c.), or Medieval Latin caravana, picked up during the Crusades from Persian karwan "group of desert travelers" (which Klein connects to Sanskrit karabhah "camel"). Used in English for "vehicle" 17c., especially for a covered cart. Hence, in modern British use (from 1930s), often a rough equivalent of the U.S. mobile home.