caravan

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English

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Etymology

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A caravan of camels in Jordan valley
A car pulling a caravan

From Middle French caravane, from Old French carvane, from Persian کاروان (kârvân), from Middle Persian kʾlwʾn' (kārawān), from Old Persian 𐎣𐎠𐎼 (k-a-r), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ker- (“army”) (whence Old English here).

The word was used to designate a group of people who were travelling by camel or horse on the Silk Road. Doublet of Kairouan.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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caravan (plural caravans)

  1. A convoy or procession of travellers, their cargo and vehicles, and any pack animals, especially camels crossing a desert.
    Synonyms: camel train, caravanserai, convoy, pack train, wagon train
    • 1846, Rufus B. Sage, Rocky Mountain Life:
      To the left the caravan animals, securely picketed, at regular distances of some fifteen yards apart, occupied an area of several acres.
    • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, The Man Who Would Be King:
      “Would they could have foretold that my caravan would have been cut up by the Shinwaris almost within shadow of the Pass!” grunted the Eusufzai agent of a Rajputana trading-house whose goods had been feloniously diverted into the hands of other robbers just across the Border, and whose misfortunes were the laughing-stock of the bazar. “Ohé, priest, whence come you and whither do you go?”
    • 1897, chapter 21, in W. B. Kimberly, editor, History of West Australia:
      Camel caravans, and courageous teamsters opened regular carrying businesses between Southern Cross and Coolgardie, while coaches began to run over the desert.
    • 2022 July 27, Sir Michael Holden, “In praise of Crossrail 1... and in search of Crossrail 2”, in RAIL, number 962, page 33:
      The caravan of skilled and experienced designers, tunnellers and builders follows these projects around the world.
  2. (Australia, British, New Zealand, South Africa) A furnished vehicle towed behind a car, etc., and used as a dwelling when stationary.
    Synonyms: camper (US), motor home, recreational vehicle, RV, trailer, travel trailer
    • 1825, Royal Society, Philosophical transactions of the Royal society of London : giving some accompt of the present undertakings, studies, and labours of the ingenious in many considerable parts of the world. VOL115, page 76:
      An Italian woman, twenty years of age, […] was travelling in a caravan with the baggage of the Duke of Wellington's army, in the middle of the night, in a violent storm, while she was fast asleep, a small monkey with a long chain upon the roof of the caravan took refuge in it (...)
    • 2006, Roger Cross, Avon Hudson, Beyond Belief: The British Bomb Tests: Australia's Veterans Speak Out, page 92:
      The caravans were the demarcation between the non-radioactive areas and the radioactive areas. There were two main caravans, one for people going into the forward area, and the other caravan was for people returning.
    • 2009, Chris Cleave, Incendiary, unnumbered page:
      The best thing about caravans is that they're always exactly the same, said Terence Butcher. You can tow your caravan to Brighton or Bournemouth or Bognor. Doesn′t make the blindest bit of difference. When you close the door behind you at the end of the day you′re home.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • → Dutch: caravan
  • → Turkish: karavan

Translations

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Verb

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caravan (third-person singular simple present caravans, present participle caravaning or caravanning, simple past and past participle caravaned or caravanned)

  1. To travel in a caravan (procession).
    The wedding party got in their cars and caravaned from the chapel to the reception hall.
    • 1957, California State Assembly, Journal of the Assembly, Legislature of the State of California‎[1], volume 1, page 92:
      The provisions of the Vehicle Code covering caravaning of vehicles have been clarified to expedite this type of operation and still result in the proper observance of the objectives of that law.
    • 1984, Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour, Information Retrieval Limited, Animal Behaviour Abstracts, Volume 12, page 73,
      Observations of caravaning were made on the domesticated musk shrew (Suncus murinus) with particular reference to its developmental aspects.
    • 2007, Stanley Bennett Clay, Looker‎[2], page 89:
      Brando, Dee, Omar, Jeanette, and Clymenthia caravanned up to the La Brea summit and down Overhill Drive, just past Slauson Avenue, to La Louisianne for drinks and a late-night snack.
  2. (UK, Australia) To travel and/or live in a caravan (vehicle).
    When my parents retired they really got back into caravanning.
    • 1932, Walter Meade, Caravanning, Cecil Charles Windsor Aldin, The Cecil Aldin Book, page 55,
      It has to be remembered that, however enchanting the idea of caravanning may be, it is unlikely that it will consist entirely of watching sunsets and other people working — two of the most fascinating sights I know — but there are, regrettably enough, other and less romantic elements.
    • 1986, James Wilson Brown, Shirley N. Brown, Before You Go To Great Britain: A Resource Directory and Planning Guide, page 94:
      British interest in camping and caravaning has recently increased considerably — so much so that today, camp parks are available in all parts of the country.
    • 2002, Don Loffler, The FJ Holden: A Favourite Australian Car‎[3], page 181:
      Norm writes, ‘My wife and I did a lot of caravaning and it certainly didn′t pull the car out of shape, although lots of people thought it would!’
    • 2023 December 6, Sam Lansky, “Person of Year 2023 : Taylor Swift”, in Time‎[4]:
      The world, in turn, watched, clicked, cried, danced, sang along, swooned, caravanned to stadiums and movie theaters, let her work soundtrack their lives.

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Dutch

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English caravan.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈkɛ.rəˌvɛn/, /ˈkɑ.rəˌvɑn/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: ca‧ra‧van

Noun

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caravan m (plural caravans, diminutive caravannetje n)

  1. caravan (type of trailer, mobile home)

Derived terms

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