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parochia

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word parochia

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
end of the 4th century AD
Borrowed from
Ancient Greek παροικία
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek παροικία
From the same root
German Pfarrer ← parochia

Forms

parochia f (genitive parochiae); first declension[1] The older spelling is paroecia;[2][3] manuscripts also have parrochia, parrocia and other forms.[4][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek παροικία (paroikía, “sojourn; community of sojourners; parish”), from πάροικος (pároikos, “neighbour; sojourner”).[1][6][2] Wiktionary explains the spelling with ⟨ch⟩ by the influence of the older loan parochus (“purveyor to travelling magistrates”), from πάροχος (párokhos);[1] Georges calls it a corruption of the Greek form.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

According to the TLL it is found in Christian Latin from the end of the 4th century, of a community of Christians or the territory under one cleric;[4] Jerome writes of a priest established in the paroecia of the bishop of Jerusalem at Bethlehem.[4]

Semantic evolution

At first it could mean a bishop's whole district, a diocese, as in Augustine and Jerome,[3][4] or a country congregation under a presbyter, as against the bishop's church in the city;[4] Sidonius uses it of a parish and of its church building.[3] Councils in Gaul from the 5th and 6th centuries use it of rural churches,[4] and medieval Latin kept both meanings, adding that of an ecclesiastical province.[5][7] Its sense in modern church law is a stable community of the faithful entrusted to a pastor.[8]

French paroisse comes from the form with ⟨ch⟩,[4] and English parish from Anglo-French and Old French.[6]

Timeline

  • end of the 4th century AD – Christian writers use it of a community under a cleric.[4]
  • c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it of the diocese of Jerusalem.[4][9]
  • c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius, of a parish and its church.[3][9]
  • Medieval Latin – A church province, a diocese, a parish.[5]
  • c. 1300 – English parish, through Anglo-French.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A diocese, the district of a bishop.[3][5][2]
  2. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A parish, a congregation or district under a priest; its church.[3][4][8]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A church province.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  3. ^ a b c d e f Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de

Descendants

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Parochia.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/parochia. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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