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Origin and history of parochial

parochial(adj.)

late 14c., "of or pertaining to a parish," from Anglo-French parochiel (early 14c.), from Old French parochial, from Late Latin parochialis "of a parish" (c. 600), from parochia (see parish).

Figurative sense, "limited, narrow," as if confined to a small region, is from 1856 (also see parochialism). Parochial school is attested from 1755.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to parochial

parish(n.)

c. 1300, "district with its own church; members of such a church," from Anglo-French paroche, parosse (late 11c.), Old French paroisse, from Late Latin parochia, paroecia "a diocese," an alteration of Late Greek paroikia "a diocese or parish," from paroikos "a sojourner" (in Christian writers), in classical Greek, "neighbor," from para- "near" (see para- (1)) + oikos "house" (from PIE root *weik- (1) "clan").

The sense development of the word in the early Church is unclear, perhaps it is from "sojourner" used as epithet of early Christians as spiritual sojourners in the material world. In early Church writing the word was used in a more general sense than Greek dioikesis, though by 13c. they were synonymous. It replaced Old English preostscyr, literally "priest-shire." In Great Britain (from the 1630s), some southern American colonies, and Louisiana it has been the name for a purely civil division for purposes of local government, with boundaries originally corresponding to an ecclesiastical parish.

parochialism(n.)

"limited and narrow character or tendency, provincialism, narrow-mindedness and uncuriosity about the wider world," 1847, from parochial + -ism.

*weik-(1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "clan, social unit above the household."

It might form all or part of: antoecian; bailiwick; Brunswick; diocese; ecology; economy; ecumenical; metic; nasty; parish; parochial; vicinage; vicinity; viking; villa; village; villain; villanelle; -ville; villein; Warwickshire; wick (n.2) "dairy farm."

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit visah "house," vit "dwelling, house, settlement;" Avestan vis "house, village, clan;" Old Persian vitham "house, royal house;" Greek oikos "house;" Latin villa "country house, farm," vicus "village, group of houses;" Lithuanian viešpats "master of the house;" Old Church Slavonic visi "village;" Gothic weihs "village."

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