parochial

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”).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pəˈɹəʊkɪəl/
• (US) IPA^(key): /pəˈɹoʊki.əl/

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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 February 1, Daniel Desmond Sheehan, “Why I Joined The Army”, in Daily Express, London:

     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, page 341:

     Its atmosphere might have been provincial, but it was never merely parochial.

   • 1977 December 17, Michael Bronski, Arthur Bressan, “Bressan's "Politics Of Celebration"”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 24, page 9:

     Gay USA would be of interest to both straight and gay audiences, but because it deals with gay people some bookers or distributors might feel that it is too parochial.

   • 2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques Cheltenham (1928)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 60:

     The society had apparently been formed the previous year, but as the Cheltenham Spa Railway Society, which sounded rather parochial and unambitious - particularly as (by all accounts) its founders had gathered in a garden shed in the town.

• parochial board
• parochial church council
• parochial school
• parochial vicar
• parochialism
• parochially

parochial (plural parochials)

1. A parochial individual.
   • 2006, Ian Marsh, Democratisation, Governance and Regionalism in East and Southeast Asia:

     If the vast majority of the citizens of our Southeast Asian countries are subjects rather than parochials, the question is: are they also participants?

   • 2022, Sumeyya Ilanbey, Daniel Andrews:

     Australia is divided between cosmopolitans and parochials.

Borrowed from Latin parochialis. Compare the inherited term paroissial.

parochial m (oblique and nominative feminine singular parochiale)

1. parochial

• ⇒ English: parochial