caravan
[kar-uh-van]
- 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.
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- to carry in or as if in a caravan: Trucks caravaned food and medical supplies to the flood's survivors.
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- to travel in or as if in a caravan: They caravaned through Egypt.
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Origin of caravan
1590–1600; earlier carovan < Italian carovana < Persian kārwān
Synonyms
See more synonyms for caravan on Thesaurus.com1. parade, procession, train, cavalcade, band.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for caravan
Contemporary Examples
A caravan of trams stuck in the middle of the medieval city waited in line for the protest to end.
On May 13, 2014, a pickup truck approached a caravan of white vans moving on a road near Baqubah, east of Baghdad, in Iraq.
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 WilliamsMarlow Stern
September 2, 2014
The caravan was carrying humanitarian aid, Russian authorities said.
The progress of the caravan of SUVs and buses ferrying the embassy staff out to Tunisia was monitored in real-time in Washington.
Historical Examples
At an angle calculated to intercept the caravan, Kingozi set off down the hill.
The Leopard WomanStewart Edward White
Thus the four tribes represented in his caravan were supplied.
The Leopard WomanStewart Edward White
This was our caravan, and God Almighty had created the elephant for us.
Meadow GrassAlice Brown
Beside which, the caravan was moving at the majestic rate of about five miles a day.
The ForestStewart Edward White
In Hori I encountered a caravan of pilgrims returning from Mecca.
The Unknown Life of Jesus ChristNicolas Notovitch
caravan
- 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
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- (intr) British to travel or have a holiday in a caravan
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Word Origin
C16: from Italian caravana, from Persian kārwān
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for caravan
n.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper