Definition of: parish

(par′ish) noun
1. Eccl. In the Anglican, Roman Catholic, and some other churches, a district, usually part of a diocese, with its own church, and in charge of a priest or other clergyman.
2. U.S. a A religious congregation, comprising all those who worship at the same church. b The district in which they live.
3. Brit. A political subdivision of a county, often corresponding to an ecclesiastical parish.
4. In Louisiana, a civil district corresponding to a county.
5. The people of a parish, in any of the above senses. ♦ Collateral adjective: parochial. [<OF paroche, paroisse <LL parochia <Gk. paroikia, orig. a neighborhood, later a diocese <para- beside + oikeein dwell]
—pa·rish′ion·al adjective