different between campervan vs caravan

English

Alternative forms

• camper van

Etymology

camper +? van

Pronunciation

Noun

campervan (plural campervans)

1. (Australia, New Zealand, Britain) A vehicle that provides both transport and sleeping accommodation

Derived terms

• campervanner

Translations

Verb

campervan (third-person singular simple present campervans, present participle campervanning, simple past and past participle campervanned)

1. (intransitive) To holiday in a campervan.

English

Etymology

From Middle French caravane, from Old French carvane, from Persian ??????? (kârvân), from Middle Persian k?lw?n' (k?raw?n), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ker- (“army”) (whence Old English here). The word was used to designate a group of people who were travelling by camel or horse on the Silk Road. Doublet of Kairouan.

Pronunciation

• enPR: k?r??-v?n, IPA^(key): /?kæ??væn/
• (Wales) IPA^(key): /ka???van/

Noun

caravan (plural caravans)

1. A convoy or procession of travelers, their vehicles and cargo, and any pack animals, especially camels crossing a desert.
2. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) A furnished vehicle towed behind a car, etc., and used as a dwelling when stationary.
   • 2006, Roger Cross, Avon Hudson, Beyond Belief: The British Bomb Tests: Australia's Veterans Speak Out, page 92,

     The caravans were the demarcation between the non-radioactive areas and the radioactive areas. There were two main caravans, one for people going into the forward area, and the other caravan was for people returning.

   • 2009, Chris Cleave, Incendiary, unnumbered page,

     The best thing about caravans is that they're always exactly the same, said Terence Butcher. You can tow your caravan to Brighton or Bournemouth or Bognor. Doesn?t make the blindest bit of difference. When you close the door behind you at the end of the day you?re home.

Synonyms

• (convoy or procession of travelers): camel train, convoy, pack train, wagon train
• (furnished vehicle used as a dwelling): (US): camper, mobile home, motor home, recreational vehicle, trailer, travel trailer

Derived terms

• caravan city
• caravan park, caravan site
• caravaneer
• motor caravan

Related terms

• caravanserai, caravansary
• van

Translations

Verb

caravan (third-person singular simple present caravans, present participle caravaning or caravanning, simple past and past participle caravaned or caravanned)

1. To travel in a caravan (procession).

   The wedding party got in their cars and caravaned from the chapel to the reception hall.

   • 1984, Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour, Information Retrieval Limited, Animal Behaviour Abstracts, Volume 12, page 73,

     Observations of caravaning were made on the domesticated musk shrew (Suncus murinus) with particular reference to its developmental aspects.
2. (Britain, Australia) To travel and/or live in a caravan (vehicle).

   When my parents retired they really got back into caravanning.

   • 1932, Walter Meade, Caravanning, Cecil Charles Windsor Aldin, The Cecil Aldin Book, page 55,

     It has to be remembered that, however enchanting the idea of caravanning may be, it is unlikely that it will consist entirely of watching sunsets and other people working — two of the most fascinating sights I know — but there are, regrettably enough, other and less romantic elements.

   • 1986, James Wilson Brown, Shirley N. Brown, Before You Go To Great Britain: A Resource Directory and Planning Guide, page 94,

     British interest in camping and caravaning has recently increased considerably — so much so that today, camp parks are available in all parts of the country.

Derived terms

• caravanner

Further reading

• "caravan", entry in The Septic's Companion: A British Slang Dictionary

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English caravan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?.r??v?n/
• Hyphenation: ca?ra?van

Noun

caravan m (plural caravans, diminutive caravannetje n)

1. caravan (type of trailer, mobile home)

Derived terms

• stacaravan

Related terms

• karavaan