parochial

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English parochiel, also parochial,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman parochiel and Old French parochial,^{[5][6][7][8][9]} and partly directly borrowed from Late Latin parochiālis (“of a parish”).^[9][10] The Anglo-Norman word is recorded from 1260 for anything belonging to a parish, and as a noun for a parish church or a parish.^[11] The French form was later replaced by paroissial.^[9][2] The Latin adjective, used from the 6th century of the rural parts of a diocese and since the 11th century of a parish, is an alteration of paroeciālis (“of a church province”), from paroecia, after parochia (“parish, diocese”), the source of parish.^[9][10][6] The OED notes that in early use the spelling ch was perhaps pronounced /tʃ/.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or belonging to an ecclesiastical parish: Barnhart dates the word to 1393 and its present spelling to 1400,^[5] Etymonline to the late 14th century,^[6] and the OED's first quotation is from the Middle English Romaunt of the Rose ascribed to Chaucer (before 1425, perhaps written before 1400).^[9][12] In Middle English it appears in phrases for the main church of a parish, its priest, a mass for its members, and the dues owed to the parish church.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From 1765, in Blackstone, the word was also used of a civil parish or a poor-law parish, a sense now chiefly historical.^[9] Johnson (1755) defined it simply as belonging to a parish.^[13] The figurative sense, narrow or provincial in outlook, as if confined within the borders of one's own parish, is first recorded in Emerson's English Traits (1856).^[9][5][6] The phrase parochial school, a school run by a church parish, is recorded from 1755.^[6] In Scotland, to go on the parochial was to receive parish relief, and in 19th-century London a parochial was a pupil of a charity school.^[14] As a noun the word has also meant a parish church (1606–79) and a clergyman or schoolteacher working in a parish (from 1853, now rare).^[9]

Timeline

• 1393 – belonging to an ecclesiastical parish.^[5] The OED's first quotation is from before 1425.^[9]
• 1606 – noun, a parish church (obsolete by 1679).^[9]
• 1755 – parochial school.^[6]
• 1765 – of a civil or poor-law parish.^[9]
• 1853 – noun, a clergyman or schoolteacher working in a parish.^[9]
• 1856 – narrow or limited in outlook, in Emerson.^[9][5][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Limited or narrow in outlook or interests; provincial: a parochial view of world affairs.^[15][9]
2. Of or relating to a church parish: the parochial records.^[4][15][9]
3. Run or supported by a church parish: a parochial elementary school.^[4][6]
4. Of or relating to a parish as a unit of local government.^[4][9]

Word family

• parochialism
• parochialist
• parochially
• parochialness
• interparochial
• nonparochial
• parochialize
• unparochial

Related words

• parish

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
15. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins