On old passenger ships, the part of the ship where the poorest passengers travelled — the ones with the cheapest tickets. It was down low, near the bottom of the ship, crowded, with no private cabins and little air or light.

On old passenger ships在舊時的客輪上，the part of the ship where the poorest passengers travelled最窮的乘客搭乘的那個艙區——the ones with the cheapest tickets也就是買最便宜船票的人。It was down low它的位置在船的低處，near the bottom of the ship靠近船底，crowded很擁擠，with no private cabins and little air or light沒有私人艙房，空氣和光線都很少。

The word belongs above all to the great period of emigration, roughly the 1840s to the 1920s, when millions of people crossed the Atlantic to America in steerage. So today it is a history word: you meet it in books, films and museum captions about immigrants, and 'they came over in steerage' is a way of saying a family arrived poor.

The word belongs above all to the great period of emigration這個字最主要屬於那段大規模移民的時期，roughly the 1840s to the 1920s大約是1840到1920年代，when millions of people crossed the Atlantic to America in steerage當時數百萬人就是搭 steerage 橫渡大西洋到美國。So今天它 it is a history word是個歷史詞：you meet it in books, films and museum captions about immigrants你會在講移民的書、電影和博物館說明牌上看到它，and 'they came over in steerage'而「they came over in steerage」 is a way of saying a family arrived poor就是在說一家人窮困抵達的一種說法。

People sometimes borrow it as a joke about the cheapest seats on a plane — 'I'm flying steerage' means economy at the back.

People sometimes borrow it as a joke有時候人們會拿它開玩笑 about the cheapest seats on a plane講飛機上最便宜的座位——'I'm flying steerage'「我坐 steerage」 means economy at the back意思就是坐後排經濟艙。

There is also an older, technical meaning: on a sailing ship, steerage was the space near the steering gear at the back, which is where the name comes from — that cheap accommodation happened to be down there. Modern ships do not have steerage; the class system on ships ended long ago.

There is also an older, technical meaning還有一個更早的技術上的意思：on a sailing ship在帆船上，steerage was the space near the steering gear at the backsteerage 指的是船尾靠近操舵裝置的空間，which is where the name comes from名字就是這樣來的——that cheap accommodation happened to be down there那個便宜的艙位剛好就在那下面。Modern ships do not have steerage現代船已經沒有 steerage 了；the class system on ships ended long ago船上的艙等階級制度早就結束了。