paroisse

Forms

paroisse f (plural paroisses)^[1] Old French parosse, paroiche and barroche.^[2][3] The Petit Robert gives parosse as early as 1090.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin parochia, a word of Christian Latin for the district of a church, especially the see of a bishop, that is, a diocese; in that sense it competed with diocesis until the end of the 11th century.^[3][5][6] In the plural it first named Christian communities outside the bishop's city (early 5th century), then country churches; from the late 8th century it named the district of a parish church.^[3][5] Picoche counts the French word among the popular ones.^[7]

The Christian Latin word is an altered form of paroecia (in Jerome), which renders Ancient Greek παροικία (paroikía, “a sojourn in a foreign land”), which later meant a Christian community (early 4th century) and a diocese.^[3][5] The change was due to Latin parochus (“purveyor to magistrates on a journey”), from Ancient Greek πάροχος (párokhos), a derivative of παρέχω (parékhō, “to supply”).^[3][5][8] The Greek noun comes from πάροικος (pároikos, “neighbour, sojourner, foreigner”), from παροικέω (paroikéō, “to dwell beside, live as a foreigner”), formed of παρά (pará, “beside”) and οἰκέω (oikéō, “to dwell”): the Christians saw themselves as strangers in this world, passing through the earthly city on their way to the next.^[5][3][8][9]

Cognate with Old Occitan parroquia and Spanish parroquia.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded in 1155 in Wace's Roman de Brut, already in its present sense of the district in which a priest has the cure of souls.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

By metonymy the word named the parish church;^[3][5] Chrétien de Troyes has the form barroche in this sense (1174–1187).^[3][5] Under the Ancien Régime the parish was also the basic rural district of civil administration (1283, Beaumanoir), the unit in which the taille was assessed.^[3][5] The sense “the parishioners as a body” is recorded in 1636.^[3][5]

Figurative phrases include estre de deux paroisses “to be false, to betray” (before 1520),^[3] prêcher pour sa paroisse “to plead for one's own interests” (1835) and être de la même paroisse “to be of the same opinion” (1875).^[5] Littré records porter un habit de deux paroisses, said first of a beadle whose robe bore the colours of two merged parishes, then of someone who tries to belong to two sides.^[2]

Timeline

• 1155 – Wace uses the word in the Roman de Brut.^[3]
• 1174–1187 – Chrétien de Troyes uses barroche for the parish church.^[3]
• 1283 – Beaumanoir uses it for a rural administrative district.^[3]
• 1376 – The Modus et Ratio has paroissien de la grant paroisse aus chiens for one easily led.^[3]
• 1636 – Monet records the sense “the body of parishioners”.^[3]
• 1835 – Prêcher pour sa paroisse is recorded.^[5]
• 1875 – Être de la même paroisse is recorded.^[5][9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A parish, the church district in the charge of a curé or a pastor.^[4][10][11]
2. The Christian community in a parish, the parishioners; also the parish church.^[10][3]
3. (history) A rural administrative unit of the Ancien Régime, with most of the functions of the later commune.^[4][3]
4. (Quebec) A rural municipality.^[10]
5. Prêcher pour sa paroisse: to speak for one's own interest: le maire prêche pour sa paroisse.^[4][5]

Word family

• paroissial
• paroissien

Related words

• Late Latin parochia

Usage notes

The figurative phrase il n'est pas de la paroisse “he is an outsider” is dated.^[4] Querelles de paroisse are petty local quarrels, also called de clocher.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 658a
7. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
8. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)