caravansary

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As usual the floating population of San Francisco had drifted into the huge court of that luxurious caravansary, and was ebbing and eddying among the multitudes of white and shining columns that support the six galleries under the crystal roof.

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Definitions (5)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun An inn built around a large court for accommodating caravans along trade routes in central and western Asia.
  2. noun A large inn or hostelry.

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Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • Such gems as remained in my belt were not enough to do more than pay for a couple more days' reckoning at the caravansary, if I could find a buyer. —  Norton, Andre - Uncharted Stars (v1.0) (html).html
  • It was as well, therefore, to teach him to refrain from trifling with his 'fares However, cabby said no more, or if he did his words failed to reach M. Zola. The reins were jerked, the scraggy night-horse broke into a spasmodic trot turned out of the station, and pulled up in front of the caravansary which an eminent butcher has done so much to immortalise. —  With Zola in England
  • As Uncle David was discussing the amount of furniture required for his intended caravansary, he paused to ask if feather beds would be thought a necessity. —  The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No. 6, December 1864 Devoted To Literature And National Policy
  • This is all the account that we can give you, in obedience to your commands Footnote 26: "Khan, or caravansary, a large building of a quadrangular form, being one story in height. —  The Arabian Nights Entertainments
  • Yet few guests remained, and the larger caravansary was scheduled to close in another day or two, the residue population to be transferred to "The Breakers The day was piping hot but magnificent; corridor, piazza, colonnade, and garden were empty of life, except for a listless negro servant dawdling here and there. —  The Firing Line
 

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. French caravanserai, from Persian kārvānsarāy : kārvān, caravan + sarāy, camp, palace; see terə-2 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French caravanserai, -serail = Italian caravanserai = Spanish caravanserrallo = Portuguese caravançara = Turkish kerwānsaray = Hind, kārwānsarā, from Persian kārwānsarāī, from kārwān, caravan, + sarāī, a palace, a public edifice, an inn: see seraglio.
 

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/kærəˈvænsəri/
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