schouw

Schouw is a Dutch noun with several related meanings, and it also appears in place names and regional terminology.

In architecture and heating, schouw most commonly refers to the chimney or flue through which smoke exits a building. Although the everyday term for chimney is usually scho­orsteen, schouw appears in technical, historical, and regional usage to denote the stack or its associated passage.

A second sense of schouw is as an inspection or survey. In building, safety, and municipal contexts, a schouw denotes a visual check of a structure, installation, or area. The related verb schouwen means to inspect or survey; phrases describing conducting an inspection are found in professional Dutch usage.

Geography and culture: Schouwen-Duiveland is a municipality in Zeeland, in the southwest of the Netherlands. It combines the former island/region Schouwen with Duiveland, and the name reflects the historical geography of the area. The term Schouwen also appears in regional toponyms and historical references to the landscape.

Etymology: The word schouw derives from older Dutch forms associated with looking, viewing, or inspecting, a sense that later broadened to include architectural terminology for the chimney or flue in buildings.

See also: schouwburg (theatre), as well as regional references to the island and municipality of Schouwen-Duiveland.