The cheapest accommodations on a ship where passengers had the least comfortable living conditions; also refers to the act of steering a ship.
From 'steer' (Old English 'steoran,' to guide or direct) plus '-age' (a suffix indicating action or result). Originally it meant the area of a ship near the steering mechanism, but came to mean the cheapest passenger quarters located near the stern.
Millions of immigrants traveling to America in the 1800s were packed into steerage below deck with barely any light or fresh air—the word became so associated with hardship that it became a symbol of struggling, desperate people searching for a better life!
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