汽船(きせん)

きせん
noun
steamship; steamboat
1. steamship; steamboat
A ship or boat powered by a steam engine. While modern vessels are rarely steam-powered, the word persists in historical and literary contexts and is still used loosely to mean a large passenger ship.
汽船(きせん)が港(みなと)に着(つ)いた。
The steamship arrived at the port.
明治時代(めいじじだい)には多(おお)くの汽船(きせん)が太平洋(たいへいよう)を横断(おうだん)した。
During the Meiji era, many steamships crossed the Pacific Ocean.
祖父(そふ)は若(わか)い頃(ころ)、汽船(きせん)に乗(の)って横浜(よこはま)からサンフランシスコ(さんふらんしすこ)まで渡(わた)ったそうだ。
I hear my grandfather crossed from Yokohama to San Francisco by steamship when he was young.

Composed of 汽(き) (steam) and 船(せん) (ship). Historically refers to steam-powered vessels that replaced sailing ships in the 19th century. In modern Japanese, the word appears mainly in historical and literary contexts, though it can still be used informally for large passenger ships.

COMMON COLLOCATIONS:

  • 汽船(きせん)に乗(の)る: to board a steamship
  • 外国(がいこく)汽船(きせん): a foreign steamship
  • 汽船(きせん)会社(がいしゃ): steamship company
  • 定期(ていき)汽船(きせん): regular steamer service

SIMILAR WORDS:

  • 船(ふね): ship, boat — the general word for any watercraft
  • 客船(きゃくせん): passenger ship — a modern vessel carrying passengers regardless of power source
  • 蒸気船(じょうきせん): steamship — a more literal and less common synonym emphasizing the steam power
  • 帆船(はんせん): sailing ship — a ship powered by wind and sails, the type that steamships replaced
general
Added 2026.4.20 20:17
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