parochial

adjective

pa·ro·chi·al | \ pə-ˈrō-kē-əl

Definition of parochial

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

Other Words from parochial Synonyms & Antonyms Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about parochial

Keep scrolling for more

Did You Know?

In the Greek New Testament, the word paroikia means "temporary residence." (It's 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 Middle 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.

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

San Mateo County high schools, both public and private/parochial, produced 31 National Merit Scholarship winners in 2019. — John Horgan, The Mercury News, "Horgan: Local 2019 National Merit Scholarship winners announced," 13 June 2019 The churches of all three parishes will remain open as parochial churches of the new Our Lady of Knock and SS. — Ted Slowik, Daily Southtown, "Slowik: Archdiocese says St. Victor in Calumet City may still close, despite rare Vatican ruling," 12 June 2019 Baseball, which has spread more modestly and remains fundamentally a domestic game, is parochial by comparison. — The Economist, "Baseball and exceptionalism," 8 June 2019 Sister Rita has been involved with the education of both parochial and public-school students. — Shirley Macfarland, cleveland.com, "The ribs will soon be grilling at City Club’s Rib Burnoff: Strong Points," 6 June 2019 More than 25,000 Maryland public, private, parochial and home-schooled students in grades 6 through 12 participated in the programs throughout the year. — Courtney Mcgee, baltimoresun.com, "Students at Immaculate Conception in Towson honored with history awards," 5 June 2019 Drunken shouts, parochial boasts, empty words cannot conceal the treachery. — Amos Oz, Harper's magazine, "Setting the World to Rights," 10 Apr. 2019 Activities like addiction recovery, hospice care, or — the amendments’ primary target — parochial education. — Valerie Strauss, Washington Post, "Betsy DeVos went to New York to visit schools for the first time. Guess which ones.," 16 May 2018 The court ruled unanimously against the monopoly, declaring that the power to regulate interstate commerce lay exclusively with the federal government and that states couldn’t impose impediments to that commerce in their parochial self-interest. — John Steele Gordon, WSJ, "The United States of Free Trade," 21 Sep. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'parochial.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.