caravan

The word “caravan” means a group of people, often with vehicles or pack animals, travelling together, especially across a desert. In plain terms, a group travelling together, or (mainly UK) a towable home-on-wheels.

“Caravan” is pronounced KA-ruh-van (/ˈkæɹəvæn/ in IPA).

Here is “caravan” used in a sentence: “A caravan of traders crossed the desert on the old Silk Road.”

Depending on how it is used, “caravan” can be a noun and a verb.

The word “caravan” comes from French. From Persian karvan via French, originally describing groups of merchants or pilgrims travelling together by camel or horse for safety.

“Caravan” is an uncommon word in modern English, usually learned at around the B2 level.

“Caravan” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a group of people, often with vehicles or pack animals, travelling together, especially across a desert.

In British English, a caravan is a vehicle towed behind a car and used as a home while travelling, similar to what American English calls a travel trailer. An RV, or recreational vehicle, is usually self-powered rather than towed, combining the living space and the engine in a single vehicle.

A caravan can also mean a group of people, often with vehicles or pack animals such as camels, travelling together, especially across a desert. This older sense of the word is where the meaning of a towed travel vehicle later developed from, since both involve a group moving together as a unit.

Yes, to caravan means to travel together as a group, often in a line of vehicles, as in "the convoy caravanned across the country." This verb use is common in everyday speech to describe coordinated group travel by car.