A term used originally in derision, "Huguenot" has unclear origins. Various hypotheses have been promoted. The term may have been a combined reference to the Swiss politician Besançon Hugues (died 1532) and the religiously conflicted nature of Swiss republicanism in his time. It used a derogatory pun on the name "Hugues" by way of the Dutch word "Huisgenoten" (literally "housemates"), referring to the connotations of a somewhat related word in German "Eidgenosse" ("Confederate" in the sense of "a citizen of one of the states of the Swiss Confederacy").