Mohammad Reza Razaghi Aug 17, 2010:

Hi Simon,
تهویه mean "ventilation" not "air conditioning". تهویه مطبوع is an example of free translation because there is no exact equivalent for the word "conditioning" in Persian that can deliver the appropriate meaning. The same problem appears when one wants to translate a phrase such as "conditioned space" (which is found in mechanical engineering materials). This term has been erroneously translated as فضای تهویه شده which is totally wrong. Better equivalents (yet not totally consistent with the source) are فضای دارای هوای پردازش شده or even فضای سرد یا گرم شده.
Actually, مطبوع should not be considered alone in the phrase "air conditioning" because as I mentioned above, it can be totally misleading.

HTH

Hossein Abbasi Mohaghegh Aug 17, 2010:

Simon,

مطبوع here means pleasant, appropriate and I assume it means the appropriate air conditioning that is needed for a location, Because different places need different amounts of temperature, humidity and fresh air.So تهویه مطبوع literally means appropriate or pleasant ventilation.
HTH

SeiTT (asker) Aug 17, 2010:

مطبوع itself Many thanks. What is confusing me here is the meaning of مطبوع itself.

Since تهویه already means air-conditioning, how does the word مطبوع modify it, please?

This may be completely wrong, but one thing I can think of is that the Arabic root طبع means ‘to print’, ‘to impress’, so could it be the idea of ‘press-button’? I.e. button-controlled air conditioning?