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Webster 1913 Edition

Parish

Par′ish

,
Adj.
Of or pertaining to a parish; parochial;
as, a
parish
church;
parish
records; a
parish
priest
; maintained by the parish;
as,
parish
poor
.
Dryden.
Parish clerk
.
(a)
The clerk or recording officer of a parish
.
(b)
A layman who leads in the responses and otherwise assists in the service of the Church of England.
–
Parish court
,
in Louisiana, a court in each parish.

Webster 1828 Edition

Parish

PAR'ISH

,
Noun.
[Low L. parochia; Gr. a dwelling or near residence; near, and house, or to dwell; or more probably from the Gr. a salary or largess, an allowance for support; to afford, yield or supply, whence L. parocha, entertainment given to embassadors at the public expense. If parish is to be deduced from either of these sources, it is probably from the latter, and parish is equivalent to benefice, living, as prebend, from L. proebeo.
1.
The precinct or territorial jurisdiction of a secular priest, or the precinct, the inhabitants of which belong to the same church.
2.
In some of the American states, parish is an ecclesiastical society not bounded by territorial limits; but the inhabitants of a town belonging to one church, though residing promiscuously among the people belonging to another church, are called a parish. This is particularly the case in Massachusetts. In Connecticut, the legal appellation of such a society is ecclesiastical society.

PAR'ISH

,
Adj.
Belonging to a parish; having the spiritual charge of the inhabitants belonging to the same church; as a parish priest.
1.
Belonging to a parish; as a parish church; parish records.
2.
Maintained by the parish; as parish poor.

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