Other forms: minivans
A minivan is a tall family car with three rows of seats. Drive a minivan, load the minivan, a seven-seat minivan.
It is the American word; British English says people carrier or MPV. Sliding doors are the practical advantage in a car park, and the whole class was designed around the height a child can climb into unaided. It replaced the estate car for large families.
1nounminivanA tall family car with three rows of seats.
“They bought a minivan so the whole family and the dog could fit in.”
minivan is a car.
Also accepted in games: people carrier
Mini plus van, from the 1980s, when the class became popular as an alternative to the station wagon.
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.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA