caravan Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a procession (of wagons or mules or camels) traveling together in single file
    train; wagon train.
    • we were part of a caravan of almost a thousand camels
    • they joined the wagon train for safety
  2. noun a camper equipped with living quarters
    van.
  3. verb travel in a caravan

WordNet

Car"a*van noun
Etymology
F. caravane (cf. Sp. caravana), fr. Per. karmwan a caravan (in sense 1). Cf. Van a wagon.
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913