Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

caravan

 
(kăr'ə-văn') pronunciation
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.]


Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

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 century, a single caravan of Muslim pilgrims journeying from Cairo and Damascus to Mecca might employ as many as 10,000 camels.

For more information on caravan, visit Britannica.com.


n

Definition: group traveling together
Antonyms: individual

caravan, group of travelers or merchants banded together and organized for mutual assistance and defense while traveling through unsettled or hostile country. Caravan trade is associated with the history of the Middle East as far back as the records of ancient civilizations extend and seems to have been well developed before sea commerce began. It is evident that all trade from one fertile area to another in this region had to be organized from the first, since long distances of desert trail separated settled parts and since local governments could not guarantee protection against tribes eager for loot and pillage. Such wares as jewels, spices, perfumes, dyes, metals, rare woods, ivory, oils, and textiles (chiefly silk) are associated with the trade. Camels were the main carriers from Egypt to Mesopotamia and throughout the Arabian peninsula. They were introduced into N Africa and the Sahara region in the 3d cent. A.D. Donkeys were used in Asia Minor. Trade naturally prospered in the period of the great empires, when the caravan routes could be controlled and protected; and it was to secure control of such routes that many wars were fought and conquests made in ancient times. An empire provided for the establishment of inns, or caravansaries, for the accommodation of travelers along the way. Such improvements facilitated the movement of troops to protect the routes. Cities rose and fell in ancient times in proportion to the rise and fall in the trade of the caravan routes upon which they were located. Basically the caravan system underwent little change until challenged in modern times by the motor truck and the airplane. Travelers having occasion to cross desert spaces usually joined merchant caravans. After the advent of Islam, the pilgrimage of the devout to Mecca gave rise to long pilgrim caravans that were a feature of the pilgrimage season each year. The closest approach to caravan trade in the New World was the wagon train commerce that developed over the Sante Fe Trail.


Word Tutor:

caravan

Top
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: A group of vehicles or pack animals traveling together on a long journey.

pronunciation The dogs bark but the caravan moves on. — Unknown.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'caravan'

Top
Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to caravan, see:

  See crossword solutions for the clue Caravan.

Caravan or caravans may refer to:

Contents

Transport and travel

Specific automobile models

Road vehicles intended for human habitation

Airplane models

Types of boat

  • Caraboat, a caravan / speedboat
  • CaraCruiser, a caravan / speedboat

Other

  • Convoy, a group of vehicles or ships traveling together for mutual support
  • Caravan Tours, an escorted tour company
  • Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together
  • Camel train, a series of camels carrying goods or passengers in a group
  • Wagon train, a series of wagons, moving together and forming a line
  • Caravanim, a trailer-type, pre-fab facility used as a living space, classroom, synagogue, or community center in Israel

In literature

In film and television

Music and radio

Other


Translations:

Caravan

Top

Dansk (Danish)
n. - campingvogn, gøglervogn

Nederlands (Dutch)
karavaan, caravan, woonwagen, wonen/reizen in woonwagen

Français (French)
n. - (gén) caravane, roulotte
v. tr. - faire du caravaning
v. intr. - faire du caravaning

Deutsch (German)
n. - Karawane, Wohnwagen
v. - Urlaub im Wohnwagen machen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - τροχόσπιτο, ρουλότα, καραβάνι, άμαξα, κάρο (π.χ. τσιγγάνων)
v. - μένω σε ή ταξιδεύω με τροχόσπιτο

Italiano (Italian)
carovana, roulotte, viaggiare in roulotte

Português (Portuguese)
n. - caravana (f), carro (m) para grandes espetáculos

Русский (Russian)
караван, фургон, туристский автоприцеп

Español (Spanish)
n. - caravana, remolque de camping, casa rodante
v. tr. - transitar en forma de caravana
v. intr. - transitar en forma de caravana

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - husvagn, karavan
v. - bo/resa i husvagn

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
旅行队, 有篷顶的大车

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 旅行隊, 有篷頂的大車

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 여행대, 이주민의 마차대, 이동주택

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 隊商, 幌馬車, キャラバン

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) بيت على عجلات تجره سيارة, مقطورة, قافله ( من الحجاج أو الرحاله الخ) (فعل) التجوال بواسطه مقطورة‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮שיירה, מעונוע, קרון-מגורים, קרוואן‬


 
 

 

Copyrights:

American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Answers Corporation Antonyms by Answers.com. © 1999-present by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
Word Tutor. Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501(c) nonprofit organization. All rights reserved.
eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; sign up free Read more
Random House Word Menu. © 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier. Write Brothers Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
 Rhymes. Oxford University Press. © 2006, 2007 All rights reserved.  Read more
Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary. Collins Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary © Anne Bradford, 1986, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008 HarperCollins Publishers All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia on Answers.com. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Caravan Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

Follow us
Facebook Twitter
YouTube

Mentioned in

» More» More