Caravanserai etymology and origin:

car·a·van·se·rai (kærəˈvænsəˌraɪ, -ˌreɪ), noun, plural -ries

1.An inn built around a large open-air courtyard for accommodating caravans along trade routes, mainly in central and western Asia.

2.A large inn or hostelry.

The word is also rendered as caravansara or caravansary. The Persian word kārvānsarā is a compound word combining ”kārvān (caravan) with sara (palace, building with enclosed courts), to which the Persian suffix -yi is added. Here ‘caravan’ means a group of traders, pilgrims, or other travelers, engaged in long distance travel.

The caravanserai was also known as a khan (Persian خان), han in Turkish, فندق funduq in Arabic (from the Greek, pandocheion, an inn), and fundaco in Venice.