paroissial

Forms

paroissial (feminine paroissiale, masculine plural paroissiaux, feminine plural paroissiales)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French paroisse + -al,^[2][1][3] after Church Latin parochiālis (“of the diocese, of the province”), a variant of paroeciālis.^[2][4][5][6] The Latin adjective also meant “of the rural part of a diocese” (572) and “of the parish” (6th century).^[2][4]

Paroisse itself comes from Late Latin parochia, an altered form of paroecia, from Ancient Greek παροικία (paroikía, “a dwelling abroad”).^[5][1] Bloch and Wartburg explain the alteration as a confusion of πάροικος (pároikos, “stranger”) with πάροχος (párokhos, “purveyor to travelling officials”).^[5]

Cognate with Old Occitan parroquial and Italian parrocchiale.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Renclus de Molliens (first quarter of the 13th century) has prestres parrochïaus in the Latin sense “of the diocese”, meaning bishops.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

French did not keep the Latin sense “of the diocese”; the word joined the meaning of the noun and came to qualify what belongs to the parish (1278).^[4] Jean de Meun's Roman de la Rose (1268–1279) calls parish priests prestres parrochiaus.^[2][7]

It drove out of common use its synonym parochial, an adjective from about 1265 and a noun from the late 12th century,^[4][8][6] and it replaced paroissien as an adjective.^[4] As a noun it was used for a prayer book (1927, Paul Bourget).^[3]

Timeline

• 1200–1225 – Prestres parrochïaus “bishops” in the Renclus de Molliens.^[2]
• c. 1225 – Iglise parroisseau “parish church” in Péan Gâtineau's Vie de saint Martin.^[2][4]
• 1238 – Droits parrochauls in a Metz cartulary.^[2]
• 1268–1279 – Jean de Meun uses it of parish priests.^[2][3]
• 1927 – Paul Bourget uses it as a noun for a prayer book.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or belonging to a parish: le curé a réuni le conseil paroissial.^[6][2][7]
2. Enclos paroissial: in Brittany, the group of buildings formed by the church, the ossuary, the churchyard and their surrounds.^[6]

Noun

1. (dated) A prayer book, a paroissien.^[3]

Related words

• paroisse
• paroissien
• parochial
• Latin parochia

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
3. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert