caravanserai
ca·ra·van·serai
noun
an inn in some Eastern countries with a large courtyard that provides accommodation for caravans
Origin
Borrowed either: * from Middle French carvansera, carvassera (modern French caravansérail, carauanserrail (obsolete), caravansara (obsolete)); or * directly from its etymon Ottoman Turkish كاروانسَرای (karvanseray), كَروانسَرای (kervanseray) (modern Turkish kervansaray), from Old Anatolian Turkish [script needed] (kārvān-serā); or * directly from its etymon Persian کاروانسرای (kârvânsarây), from کاروان (kârvân, “caravan; convoy”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ker- (“army”)) + سرای (sarây, “courtyard, hall; dwelling, house; inn; mansion, palace”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terh₂- (“to cross over; to pass through; to overcome”). Cognates * Dutch karavanserai, carewansera (obsolete) * German Karawanserei, Caravansera (obsolete) * Italian caravanserraglio, carvasarà (obsolete), carvanserà (obsolete) * Portuguese caravançará, caravançarai * Spanish caravasar
Related words
Broader terms
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.