Adjacent Words

Caravan definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CARAVAN, n. A company of travellers, pilgrims or merchants, marching or proceeding in a body over the deserts of Arabia, or other region infested with robbers.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a procession (of wagons or mules or camels) traveling together in single file; "we were part of a caravan of almost a thousand camels"; "they joined the wagon train for safety" [syn: caravan, train, wagon train]
2: a camper equipped with living quarters [syn: van, caravan] v
1: travel in a caravan

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Italian caravana, from Persian k?rv?n Date: 1588 1. a. a company of travelers on a journey through desert or hostile regions; also a train of pack animals b. a group of vehicles traveling together (as in a file) 2. a. a covered wagon or motor vehicle equipped as traveling living quarters b. British trailer 3b II. intransitive verb (-vanned or -vaned; -vanning or -vaning) Date: 1885 to travel in a caravan

Britannica Concise

Group of merchants, pilgrims, or travelers journeying together, usually for mutual protection, in deserts or other hostile regions. The camel was the most common means of transport. Caravans have been described since the beginning of recorded history, and they were a major factor in the growth of settlements along their routes. One caravan trail developed into the Silk Road. During the height of caravan travel, which lasted until the 19th cent., a single caravan of Muslim pilgrims journeying from Cairo and Damascus to Mecca might employ as many as 10,000 camels.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a Brit. a vehicle equipped for living in and usu. towed by a motor vehicle or a horse. b US a covered motor vehicle equipped for living in. 2 a company of merchants or pilgrims etc. travelling together, esp. across a desert in Asia or N. Africa. 3 a covered cart or carriage. --v.intr. (caravanned, caravanning) travel or live in a caravan. Phrases and idioms: caravan site (or park) a place where caravans are parked as dwellings, often with special amenities. Derivatives: caravanner n. Etymology: F caravane f. Pers. karwan

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(caravans) 1. A caravan is a vehicle without an engine that can be pulled by a car or van. It contains beds and cooking equipment so that people can live or spend their holidays in it. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use trailer) N-COUNT 2. A caravan is a group of people and animals or vehicles who travel together. N-COUNT

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kar'-a-van, kar-a-van' ('orach): This word is not found in the King James Version, but the Revised Version (British and American) employs it three times, namely, in Job 6:18,19 ('orchoth), where the King James Version renders "paths" (Job 6:18) and "troops" (Job 6:19); in Isa 21:13 ('orechoth), where the King James Version and English Versions of the Bible give "travelling companies," and in Eze 27:25 (sharoth), where the King James Version gives a totally different translation. The Hebrew text in Ezekiel is dubious, but in Isaiah and Job "caravan" is undoubtedly a correct rendering of the Hebrew (compare also Ge 37:25). The inhabitants of Palestine were familiar with the caravans--the goods trains of the Semitic world--which traveled between BabyIon and Syria on the one hand to Arabia and on the other to Egypt. The main routes between these countries passed through Canaan. Isaiah refers to "caravans of Jedanites"--a trading Arabic tribe who conveyed their wares to Babylon. Job compares his would-be friends to a deceitful brook, full in the rainy season, but dry in summer, which entices caravans to turn aside from the main route in the hope of a plentiful supply of water, but which fails the thirsty travelers when they need it most.

T. Lewis

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A large sum of money; also, a person cheated of such sum. Cant.

Moby Thesaurus

Conestoga wagon, camp trailer, camper, cavalcade, column, cortege, covered wagon, dray, dress parade, flyover, funeral, haywagon, house trailer, line, march past, mobile home, motorcade, mule train, pack train, parade, pomp, prairie schooner, procession, promenade, review, semitrailer, skimmington, stream, string, trail car, trailer, trailer camp, trailer court, trailer park, train, truck trailer, van, waggon, wagon, wain