汽船(きせん)

きせん
noun
steamship; steamboat
writtenspokentransportationhistory
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

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

Related Words

Compare: 客船(きゃくせん) (passenger ship)
Compare: 帆船(はんせん) (sailing ship)
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Added 2026.4.20 20:17 · Revised 2026.9.2 13:02
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