holhoek

Holhoek is a toponym used in Dutch-speaking regions to designate small settlements. In various gazetteers and maps, the name appears in several municipalities across the Netherlands and the Flemish part of Belgium. Places named Holhoek are typically rural or semi-rural and may range from small hamlets to neighbourhoods within larger towns.

The etymology of Holhoek combines two Dutch elements: hol, meaning hollow or low-lying ground, and hoek, meaning corner or bend. The name likely referred to a location at a hollow in fields, along a bend in a road, or near a watercourse, reflecting landscape features that helped distinguish places in historical land records.

Geographically, Holhoek sites tend to be small and sparsely populated, with development concentrated around farmsteads, traditional houses, or clusters of rural buildings. They are commonly administered as part of a larger municipality or parish, rather than functioning as independent administrative entities.

Historically, the use of toponyms built from hol and hoek fits a broader medieval and early modern pattern of descriptive place naming based on local terrain. Such names helped travelers and residents identify specific spots within a largely agrarian landscape.

Because the name Holhoek occurs in more than one location, references typically require contextual qualifiers—such as the associated municipality or province—to identify the intended place. The toponym illustrates how landscape features shaped settlement names in Dutch-speaking regions.