parochial

adjective

pa·​ro·​chi·​al pə-ˈrō-kē-əl 

1

: of or relating to a church parish

our pastor and other parochial leaders

2

: of or relating to a parish as a unit of local government

parochial authorities serve the inhabitants of Louisiana's parishes

3

: confined or restricted as if within the borders of a parish : limited in range or scope (as to a narrow area or region) : provincial, narrow

parochially

pə-ˈrō-kē-ə-lē 

adverb

Did you know?

In the Greek of the New Testament, the word paroikia means "temporary residence in a foreign land" and comes from the Greek word for "stranger": paroikos. Early Christians used this designation for their colonies because they considered heaven their real home. But temporary or not, these Christian colonies became more organized as time went on. Thus, in Late Latin, parochia became the designation for a group of Christians in a given area under the leadership of one pastor—what we came to call a parish in the 14th century. Both parish and its related adjective parochial were borrowed at that time directly from Anglo-French terms that had been derived from the Late Latin. We didn't begin to use parochial in its "narrow" sense until the mid-19th century.

Synonyms

• illiberal
• insular
• Lilliputian
• little
• narrow
• narrow-minded
• petty
• picayune
• provincial
• sectarian
• small
• small-minded

Examples of parochial in a Sentence

It has never been clearer that the country's best self is a global inheritance, its worst a parochial self-certainty. —Jedediah Purdy, New York Times Book Review, 22 Feb. 2009

There is no patience for the parochial, the small-time, the stay-in-place, not in Los Angeles. —Richard Hoffer, Sports Illustrated, 8 Sept. 2008

… during the mid-1780s, Madison had two great goals. The first was to inculcate an enlightened sense of national interest in legislators whose political instincts were innately parochial. —Jack N. Rakove, Original Meanings … , 1996

our pastor and other parochial leaders

voters worried about their own parochial concerns

Recent Examples on the Web

The United States grew from a tiny parochial acorn into a mighty international oak with the greatest human capital in world history. —Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 3 Apr. 2024

In this parochial community, everyone's lives overlap, creating perfect conditions for a novel that depends on a web of interwoven perspectives. —Kristen Martin, NPR, 11 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English parochiall, from Anglo-French parochial, from Late Latin parochialis, from parochia parish — more at parish

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing parochial

• parochial school

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Kids Definition

parochial

adjective

pa·​ro·​chi·​al pə-ˈrō-kē-əl 

1

: of or relating to a parish

2

: restricted or limited in range or scope : narrow, provincial

a parochial point of view

parochialism

-kē-ə-ˌliz-əm

noun

parochially

-kē-ə-lē 

adverb

Legal Definition

parochial

adjective

pa·​ro·​chi·​al pə-ˈrō-kē-əl 

: of or relating to a parish