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caravan - 4 dictionary results

car⋅a⋅van

[kar-uh-van] noun, verb, -vaned or -vanned, -van⋅ing or -van⋅ning.
–noun
1. a group of travelers, as merchants or pilgrims, journeying together for safety in passing through deserts, hostile territory, etc.
2. 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.
3. a large covered vehicle for conveying passengers, goods, a sideshow, etc.; van.
4. Chiefly British. a house on wheels; trailer.
–verb (used with object)
5. to carry in or as if in a caravan: Trucks caravaned food and medical supplies to the flood's survivors.
–verb (used without object)
6. to travel in or as if in a caravan: They caravaned through Egypt.

Origin:
1590–1600; earlier carovan < It carovana < Pers kārwān


car⋅a⋅van⋅ist, noun


1. parade, procession, train, cavalcade, band.
car·a·van   (kār'ə-vān')   
n.  
  1. A company of travelers journeying together, as across a desert or through hostile territory.
  2. A single file of vehicles or pack animals.
  3. A large covered vehicle; a van.
  4. Chiefly British A trailer or dwelling place on wheels.

[French caravane or Italian carovana, both from Persian kārvān.]

Caravan

Car"a*van\ (k[a^]r"[.a]*v[a^]n or k[a^]r*[.a]*v[a^]n"; 277), n. [F. caravane (cf. Sp. caravana), fr. Per. karw[=a]n a caravan (in sense 1). Cf. Van a wagon.]

1. A company of travelers, pilgrims, or merchants, organized and equipped for a long journey, or marching or traveling together, esp. through deserts and countries infested by robbers or hostile tribes, as in Asia or Africa.

2. A large, covered wagon, or a train of such wagons, for conveying wild beasts, etc., for exhibition; an itinerant show, as of wild beasts.

3. A covered vehicle for carrying passengers or for moving furniture, etc.; -- sometimes shorted into van.
Language Translation for : caravan
Spanish: caravana,
German: der Wohnwagen,
Japanese: キャンピングカー

caravan 
1588, from M.Fr. caravane, from O.Fr. carouan, picked up in the Crusades from Pers. karwan "group of desert travelers." Used in Eng. for "vehicle" 17c., esp. for a covered cart. In modern British use, often a rough equivalent of the U.S. mobile home. Related caravanserai (1599) "inn (with a large central court) catering to caravans" is from Pers. karwan-sarai, from sara "palace, mansion, inn."
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