caravan

caravan — noun

1. a wheeled vehicle with beds, a small kitchen, and sometimes a toilet area, desig

1.nounB1
Definition

a wheeled vehicle with beds, a small kitchen, and sometimes a toilet area, designed to be pulled behind a car and used for holidays or short trips away from home.

Example

The Nguyen family spent two weeks in their caravan beside a lake in Wales.

Yusuf hitched the caravan to his car before setting off for the coast.

collocation: hitch a caravan to / unhitch a caravan

Common collocations
  • tow a caravan
  • hitch up a caravan
  • park a caravan
  • stay in a caravan
  • caravan holiday
  • caravan site
  • caravan park
Synonyms
  • camper van

    a motor vehicle with living quarters built in, not towed

  • travel trailer

    American English term for the same type of towed holiday vehicle

Grammar Patterns

caravan + verb (be parked, be hitched up)

in/with/into a caravan

Usage Note

In British English this is the most common meaning of 'caravan'. In American English the same type of vehicle is usually called a 'travel trailer' or 'camper'.

Common Mistakes

We stayed in a caravan hotel.
We stayed in a caravan at the campsite.
a caravan is itself a place to sleep; you don't stay 'in a caravan hotel'.

2. a large wooden wagon with a rounded cloth roof and painted decorations, drawn by

2.nounB2
Definition

a large wooden wagon with a rounded cloth roof and painted decorations, drawn by a single horse and used as a mobile home by travelling communities such as the Romani people.

Example

At the fair, children climbed into a replica of an old Romani caravan painted bright red and gold.

collocation: painted caravan

The museum's collection includes a horse-drawn caravan from the 1890s with wooden wheels.

modifier: horse-drawn caravan

Common collocations
  • horse-drawn caravan
  • wooden caravan
  • painted caravan
  • Romani caravan
  • traditional caravan
  • restore a caravan
Synonyms
  • vardo

    the specific Romani term for a horse-drawn living wagon

  • covered wagon

    a broader term for any wagon with a canvas cover, including those used by American settlers

  • wagon

    a simpler, less specific term

Grammar Patterns

pull/push + a caravan

live in + a caravan

Usage Note

This sense primarily refers to the traditional Romani (Gypsy) vardo — a type of living wagon. It is now mostly encountered in historical contexts, museums, or festival displays.

3. a long line of people, pack animals, or vehicles travelling together across a de

3.nounB2
Definition

a long line of people, pack animals, or vehicles travelling together across a desert or other dangerous region for mutual safety and company.

Example

A caravan of camels carrying salt and spices crossed the Sahara for several weeks.

pattern: a caravan of + animals/people

Merchants joined the caravan so that bandits would not attack them on the journey.

Common collocations
  • a caravan of camels
  • join a caravan
  • caravan route
  • caravan leader
  • desert caravan
Synonyms
  • convoy

    used for vehicles travelling together for protection, often military

  • procession

    a line of people or vehicles, usually for a ceremony rather than safety

  • camel train

    a specific type of caravan using camels

Grammar Patterns

a caravan of + plural noun (merchants, camels, travellers)

Usage Note

This sense can also be used more broadly for any group of vehicles travelling together in a line (e.g. 'a caravan of trucks'), though the desert-and-camels image remains the most typical context.

Common Mistakes

The caravan of cars drove to the beach.
A line of cars drove to the beach.
'caravan' for a group of vehicles carries a strong sense of desert travel or danger; for ordinary vehicles 'convoy' or 'line' is more natural.

caravan — verb

Word family

  • caravanning
    nounB2
  • caravanner
    nounB2
  • caravanette
    nounC1
  • caravan park
    nounB1
  • caravan site
    nounB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Caravan' (British English) refers specifically to a towed vehicle without its own engine. A 'camper van' is a single vehicle — usually a van converted with a bed and kitchen — that you drive directly rather than tow. A 'motorhome' is larger and more like a bus with full living facilities inside; you drive it rather than tow it, and it is often more expensive than a caravan. In American English, 'travel trailer' is the closest equivalent to a British caravan, while 'RV' (recreational vehicle) covers both motorhomes and towable units. Choice depends on your travel style: caravans are cheaper and can be left at a campsite while you explore in the car, whereas camper vans and motorhomes offer more convenience since everything is in one self-contained vehicle.

caravan ↗camper vanmotorhome ↗travel trailer

Common collocations

Nouns

  • caravan holiday
  • caravan site
  • caravan park
  • caravan club
  • caravan owner
  • caravan maker

Adverbs

  • often caravan
  • regularly caravan

Phrases

  • hitch up a caravan
  • unhitch a caravan
  • tow a caravan
  • live in a caravan
  • travel by caravan

Prepositions

  • in a caravan
  • with a caravan
  • by caravan
  • across [region] in a caravan

Etymology

PersianItalianFrenchEnglish

The word 'caravan' came into English from Italian 'caravana', which in turn came from Persian 'kārvān' (كاروان), meaning a group of travellers journeying together, especially across a desert. The Persian word spread through trade routes into Arabic ('qāfila' took over in Arabic, but 'kārvān' influenced Turkish 'kervan' and then European languages). In the 1500s English used 'caravan' for the desert travelling group. By the 1800s the meaning extended to covered wagons used by travelling communities, and in the 1900s to towed holiday vehicles — though the core idea of a mobile home on a journey has stayed the same across all senses.