Etymologically
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parish

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 14:21. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈpæɹɪʃ/ (UK); /ˈpæɹɪʃ/, /ˈpɛɹɪʃ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English paroche, later parosshe and parish,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman paroche, Old French paroisse,[3][2][4] from Late Latin parochia (“a diocese”), paroecia,[3][2][4] from Late Greek παροικία (paroikía, “a diocese or parish; a sojourning”),[3][2] from pároikos, a sojourner, in classical Greek a neighbour, from pará, near, and oîkos, house,[3][4] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *weik- (“clan”).[3] Barnhart suggests that the English form is partly a back-formation from paroschien, parishioner.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A district with its own church and clergyman, and its members: about 1300.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The development in the early Church is unclear: it may come from the use of sojourner as an epithet of Christians as spiritual sojourners in the world,[3] and Hoad doubts whether neighbour or sojourner determined the application.[4] In early Church writing it had a more general sense than Greek dioíkēsis, diocese, but by the 13th century the two were synonymous.[3] It replaced Old English preostscyr, priest-shire.[3] In Great Britain from the 1630s, in some southern American colonies and in Louisiana it became the name of a civil division for local government.[3][5]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – paroche.[2]
  • c. 1330 – parish.[2]
  • 1601 – a civil district.[5]
  • 1630s – in British local government.[3]
  • 1833 – the verb.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A division of a diocese with its own church and priest or minister.
  2. The members of such a parish; a congregation.
  3. (British) The smallest unit of local government in rural areas.
  4. (Louisiana) A county.

Word family

  • interparish
  • outparish
  • parishioner
  • parish house
  • parish register

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press