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Webster 1913 Edition

Parochial

Pa-ro′chi-al

,
Adj.
[LL.
parochialis
, from L.
parochia
. See
Parish
.]
1.
Of or pertaining to a parish; restricted to a parish;
as,
parochial
duties;
parochial
schools
.
“Parochial pastors.”
Bp. Atterbury.

Webster 1828 Edition

Parochial

PARO'CHIAL

,
Adj.
[from L. parochia.] Belonging to a parish; as parochial clergy; parochial duties.

Definition 2024

parochial

parochial

English

Adjective

parochial ‎(comparative more parochial, superlative most parochial)

  1. Pertaining to a parish.
  2. Characterized by an unsophisticated focus on local concerns to the exclusion of wider contexts; elementary in scope or outlook.
    The use of simple, primary colors in the painting gave it a parochial feel.
    Some people in the United States have been accused of taking a parochial view, of not being interested in international matters.
    • 1918, 1st of February, "Why I Joined The Army", an article in London's Daily Express by Daniel Desmond Sheehan
      But for men of principle and honour and straightforward thought there could be no middle course and no paltering with petty issues of party or parochial advantage.
    • 1969, T.C. Smout: A History of the Scottish People 1560-1830, p 341:
      Its atmosphere might have been provincial, but it was never merely parochial.

Translations

Related terms

Old French

Etymology

Borrowing from Latin parochialis. Compare the inherited term paroissial.

Adjective

parochial m ‎(oblique and nominative feminine singular parochiale)

  1. parochial

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman parochial and its source Late Latin parochialis, an alteration of paroecialis ‎(“of a church province”), from paroecia, from Hellenistic Greek παροικία ‎(paroikía, “stay in a foreign land”) , later “community, diocese”, from Ancient Greek πάροικος ‎(pároikos, “neighbouring, neighbour”), from παρα- ‎(para-) + οἶκος ‎(oîkos, “house”).

Pronunciation

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