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Dutch to English translations [PRO] Social Sciences - Names (personal, company)
Dutch term or phrase:Kent Huize
In a text I am translating, we have a cat named Otto. He's the Otto of the House of Kent. And his pet-human, the doctor, lives in an appartement block named Kent Huize, in Amsterdam. At first, I thought that Kent Huize was the exact Dutch translation of the House of Kent. But it seems there's a wordplay here with the verb "kennen" and "huize" is not a typical form of "huis", I think.
What does a native Dutch speaker see here, I wonder. Is there a wordplay, or smth? Should this be taken to mean smth like "[well-] known house" or else? Or does "huize" have other meanings that are not related to "house"?
Any comments will be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Explanation: Nothing special, really, except that 'Huize' is an older form of 'huis', still used in standard expressions like 'ten huize van' (house, hus,...).
Etymology:
house - O.E. hus "dwelling, shelter, house," from P.Gmc. *khusan (cf. O.N., O.Fris. hus, Du. huis, Ger. Haus), of unknown origin, perhaps connected to the root of hide (v.). In Goth. only in gudhus "temple," lit. "god-house;" the usual word for "house" in Goth. being razn. Meaning "family, including ancestors and descendants, especially if noble" is from c.1000. The legislative sense (1541) is transferred from the building in which the body meets. Meaning "audience in a theater" is from 1921. Zodiac sense is first attested c.1391. The verb meaning "give shelter to" is O.E. husian (cognate with Ger. hausen, Du. huizen). Household is first recorded 1382; for housewife (c.1225) see hussy. To play house is from 1871; as suggestive of "have sex, shack up," 1968. House arrest first attested 1936; housewarming is from 1577; houseboat is 1790. On the house "free" is from 1889.
The only possibility I see right now (if you're really looking for some other meaning) is that it could be some sort of an abbreviated form of 'een gekend huis' 'a well-known house' (simply a well-known house, but also maybe e.g. a brothel) which then later changed into Kent Huize. IMHO, too far-fetched, though. Maybe I'm missing something...
thank you, so far.i thought the same thing as Evert, that a well-known house would ironically mean a house of ill-repute
01:17 Sep 3, 2003
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Answers
14 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +2
Huize Kent
Explanation: That is what I would rather say, but I can't see any wordplay here. I'm not quite sure about the historical meaning/usage of the word Huize, but it is certainly not only used by well-known Houses. Common people also hang up signs with "Huize Whatever" on their house fronts.
Explanation: Nothing special, really, except that 'Huize' is an older form of 'huis', still used in standard expressions like 'ten huize van' (house, hus,...).
Etymology:
house - O.E. hus "dwelling, shelter, house," from P.Gmc. *khusan (cf. O.N., O.Fris. hus, Du. huis, Ger. Haus), of unknown origin, perhaps connected to the root of hide (v.). In Goth. only in gudhus "temple," lit. "god-house;" the usual word for "house" in Goth. being razn. Meaning "family, including ancestors and descendants, especially if noble" is from c.1000. The legislative sense (1541) is transferred from the building in which the body meets. Meaning "audience in a theater" is from 1921. Zodiac sense is first attested c.1391. The verb meaning "give shelter to" is O.E. husian (cognate with Ger. hausen, Du. huizen). Household is first recorded 1382; for housewife (c.1225) see hussy. To play house is from 1871; as suggestive of "have sex, shack up," 1968. House arrest first attested 1936; housewarming is from 1577; houseboat is 1790. On the house "free" is from 1889.
The only possibility I see right now (if you're really looking for some other meaning) is that it could be some sort of an abbreviated form of 'een gekend huis' 'a well-known house' (simply a well-known house, but also maybe e.g. a brothel) which then later changed into Kent Huize. IMHO, too far-fetched, though. Maybe I'm missing something...
Evert DELOOF-SYS Belgium Local time: 13:56 Native speaker of: Dutch, Flemish PRO pts in category: 2
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +2
