Vissenaken is a village in Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. It is part (deelgemeente

Deelgemeente

A deelgemeente is a subdivision of a gemeente in Belgium and the Netherlands.-Belgium:...

) of the municipality Tienen.

It is located north of the city of Tienen and is divided into two parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

es: Sint-Maartens and Sint-Pieters.

The saint Himelin

Himelin

Saint Himelin was a Scottish priest who, returning from a pilgrimage to Rome, fell ill when passing through Vissenaken ....

 is known only in Vissenaken.

Origin of the name

Old Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 and Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

 names: 1147 Fennache, 1214 vissnake, 1217 de Fenaco, 1226 Vesnaken. Vissenaken can be reconstituted as *Fassiniacas: this is the German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

name Fasso + the adjective iniacas. Vissenaken thus means: with the people of Fasso.