caravanserai

English

The interior of the Caravanserai of Saʿd al-Saltaneh in Qazvin, Iran.

The view from the courtyard of the Shah Abbas Caravanserai, now a hotel, in Isfahan, Iran.

Plan of a Safavid caravanserai

Alternative forms

caravansarai, caravanseray, caravansaray (variant spellings)
caravansary, caravansery (anglicisations after -ary, -ery)

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian ‎ (kârvânserây), from ‎ (kârvân, “caravan”) + ‎ (sarây, “courtyard; dwelling; palace”).

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /kaɹəˈvansəɹʌɪ/
- Audio (UK) (file)
(General American) IPA^(key): /kɑɹəˈvænsəɹaɪ/

Noun

caravanserai (plural caravanserais)

A roadside inn having a central courtyard where caravans can rest.
- 1859, Omar Khayyám, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám translated by Edward FitzGerald, XVI,
  Think, in this batter'd Caravanserai / Whose Doorways are alternate Night and Day, / How Sultán after Sultán with his Pomp / Abode his Hour or two, and went his way.
- 1933 January 9, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], chapter 34, in Down and Out in Paris and London, London: Victor Gollancz […], OCLC 2603818:
  When we got to Cromley, it was too early to go to the spike, and we walked several miles farther, to a plantation beside a meadow, where one could sit down. It was a regular caravanserai of tramps—one could tell it by the worn grass and the sodden newspaper and rusty cans that they had left behind.
- 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society 2010, p. 48:
  Eight days later, after leaving the desert and riding through neatly tended villages and snow-capped mountain scenery, he arrived there, hiring himself a room in a caravanserai near the bazaar.
(humorous) An upscale hotel.
- 1838, Anonymous, A Guide to the Lakes of Killarney and the South of Ireland, London: J. Onwhyn, p. 56,
  By the bye it is as well to mention, for the benefit of the inexperienced, that there are no Inns in Ireland; all are hotels, from the lowest road cabin to the splendid caravanserai, with all its appurtenances of luxury and ease.
- 1940, Sinclair Lewis, Bethel Merriday, London: Jonathan Cape, Chapter XXVII, p. 281,
  Six anxious inquiries of marble-fronted-hotel clerks about rates; and twice when she angrily made it plain she couldn't afford it, and quit the caravanserai where Andy and Mahala and Mrs. Boyle were to loll in kitchenette-bedizened splendour and hunted up a smaller hotel that looked like a private house with obesity.
A home or shelter for caravans.

Synonyms

khan
sarai, serai

Translations

an inn having a central courtyard where caravans can rest

Arabic: كَارْوَانْسَرَا‎ m (kārwānsarā), خَان‎ (ḵān)
Armenian: քարվանսարա (hy) (kʿarvansara)
Azerbaijani: karvansara
Bashkir: ҡарауанһарай (qarawanharay)
Bengali: ক্যারাভানসরাই (kêrabhansôrai)
Bulgarian: кервансара́й m (kervansaráj)
Catalan: caravanserrall (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 商隊旅館／商队旅馆 (shāngduì lǚguǎn)
Crimean Tatar: kervansaray
Czech: karavansaraj
Dutch: karavanserai
Esperanto: karavanserajo
Finnish: karavaaniseralji (fi)
French: caravansérail (fr) m
Georgian: ქარვასლა (karvasla)
German: Karawanserei (de) f
Greek: καραβάν σεράι (karaván serái)
Hindi: कारवां सराय (kārvā̃ sarāy)
Hungarian: karavánszeráj (hu)
Italian: caravanserraglio (it) m
Japanese: キャラバンサライ (kyarabansarai)
Kazakh: керуен сарай (keruen sarai)
Korean: 캐러밴서라이 (kaereobaenseorai)
Kumyk: керивансарай (keriwansaray)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: کاروانسەرا‎ (ku) (karwansera)
Northern Kurdish: karwansera (ku) f, karwanseray (ku) f
Kyrgyz: кербен-сарай (kerben-saray)
Norwegian: karavaneserai
Pashto: کاروان سراى‎ m (kārwānsarãy)
Persian: کاروان‌سرا‎ (kârvân-sarâ), تیم‎ (fa) (tim) (archaic), کاروانسرای‎ (fa) (kârevânsarây)
Polish: karawanseraj (pl) m
Portuguese: caravançarai m, caravançará (pt), caravancerá
Russian: караван-сара́й (ru) m (karavan-saráj), каравансара́й (ru) m (karavansaráj)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: каравансарај m
Roman: karavansaraj m
Spanish: caravasar m, caravansaray m
Tajik: корвонсарой (korvonsaroy)
Tatar: кәрвансарай (kärwansaray)
Turkish: kervansaray (tr)
Turkmen: kerwensaraý
Urdu: please add this translation if you can
Uyghur: كارۋان ساراي‎ (karwan saray)
Uzbek: karvonsaroy (uz)
Volapük: karovöp (vo)

References

Hillenbrand, Robert. 1994. Islamic Architecture: Form, function and meaning. NY: Columbia University Press. (see Chapter VI for an in depth overview of the caravanserai).
Sims, Eleanor. 1978. Trade and Travel: Markets and Caravanserais.' In: Michell, George. (ed.). 1978. Architecture of the Islamic World - Its History and Social Meaning. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 80-111.
Yavuz, Aysil Tükel. 1997. The Concepts that Shape Anatolian Seljuq Caravanserais. In: Gülru Necipoglu (ed). 1997. Muqarnas XIV: An Annual on the Visual Culture of the Islamic World. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 80-95. Available online as a PDF document, 1.98 MB archnet.org/library/pubdownloader/pdf/8967/doc/DPC1304.pdf.

Romanian

Etymology

From French caravansérail, from Persian ‎ (kârvânserây), from ‎ (kârvân, “caravan”) + ‎ (sarây, “courtyard; dwelling; palace”). Doublet of carvasara.

Noun

caravanserai n (plural caravanseraiuri)

caravanserai

Declension

Declension of caravanserai

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) caravanserai	caravanseraiul	(niște) caravanseraiuri	caravanseraiurile
genitive/dative	(unui) caravanserai	caravanseraiului	(unor) caravanseraiuri	caravanseraiurilor
vocative	caravanseraiule		caravanseraiurilor