minivan

M3I1N1I1V4A1N1

noun

A small van, especially (Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines) one primarily used for family transport.

Less commonScrabble 12
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Meanings

nounminivan (plural minivans)

plural minivans

  1. A small van, especially (Canada, US, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines) one primarily used for family transport.
verbminivan (third-person singular simple present minivans, present participle minivanning, simple past and past participle minivanned)

present singular third person minivans · participle present minivanning · participle past minivanned · past minivanned

  1. ambitransitiveTo travel or transport in a small van.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
van

Origin

From mini- + van. First widely used in the 1980s, when this class of vehicles became widely popular as an alternative to station wagons (estate cars). Attested earlier in technical usage, usually as mini-van.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian минива́н
  • минива́н (miniván)small van — see also matatu
Chinese Mandarin 多功能休旅車 /多功能休旅车, 微面
  • 多功能休旅車 /多功能休旅车 (duōgōngnéng xiūlǚchē)small van — see also matatu
  • 微面 (wēimiàn)small van — see also matatu
Finnish tila-auto
  • tila-autosmall van — see also matatu
French fourgonnette, mini-fourgonnette
  • fourgonnettesmall van — see also matatu
  • mini-fourgonnettesmall van — see also matatu
  • mini-fourgonsmall van — see also matatu
  • monospacesmall van — see also matatu
German Minivan
  • Minivansmall van — see also matatu
Italian monovolume
  • monovolumesmall van — see also matatu
Japanese ミニバン
  • ミニバン (miniban)small van — see also matatu
Korean 미니밴, 다목적 자동차
  • 미니밴 (minibaen)small van — see also matatu
  • 다목적 자동차 (damokjeok jadongcha)small van — see also matatu
Polish minivan
  • minivansmall van — see also matatu
Portuguese minivan
  • minivansmall van — see also matatu
Russian минивэ́н, фурго́н
  • минивэ́н (minivɛ́n)small van — see also matatu
  • фурго́н (furgón)small van — see also matatu
  • мини-фурго́н (mini-furgón)small van — see also matatu
Spanish combi, monovolumen
  • combismall van — see also matatu
  • monovolumensmall van — see also matatu
Thai มินิแวน
  • มินิแวน (mí-ní-wɛɛn)small van — see also matatu
Ukrainian мініве́н, міні-фурго́н
  • мініве́н (minivén)small van — see also matatu
  • міні-фурго́н (mini-furhón)small van — see also matatu
Vietnamese minivan
  • minivansmall van — see also matatu

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with minivan

anthanjanmanplanjapanvanfananndanIranpanTaiwanAnnescanranLANbantanspansudanDianeMilanclan
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

minivan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/minivan

MLA

“minivan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/minivan. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “minivan,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/minivan.

Source: minivan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.