A cavalcade is a procession of people on horses or in vehicles, all traveling together in a line, usually for a special occasion. Picture a parade where mounted police officers ride their horses down Main Street, or imagine a line of fancy cars carrying important visitors through town. That's a cavalcade.

For centuries, cavalcades meant specifically horses and their riders. In old times, a king might travel with a cavalcade of knights and nobles, all on horseback, creating an impressive sight as they moved through the countryside. Today, we still use cavalcade for horses, but the word has expanded to include cars, motorcycles, or any impressive procession of vehicles.

The word can also describe a series of related things happening one after another. A historian might describe a cavalcade of events that led to an important discovery, meaning one thing followed another in sequence. A documentary might show a cavalcade of images from different decades, each one following the last.

When you see cavalcade, think of movement, spectacle, and sequence. Whether it's actual horses and riders, a line of gleaming motorcycles, or a series of connected events, the word suggests something grand moving forward in a group.