parish
/ˈpæɹ.ɪʃ/
"parish" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“parish” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,994 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #5,994
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An administrative part of a diocese that has its own church.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | parish |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpæɹ.ɪʃ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #5,994 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “parish” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for parish is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpæɹ.ɪʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,994 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for parish, with forms such as "aprish", "pairsh", and "parihs". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 15 confusable-pair relationships, "pars", "parts", "Parks", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English parisshe, from Old French paroisse (compare the obsolete variant paroch, from Anglo-Norman paroche, parosse), from Late Latin parochia, from Ancient Greek παροικία (paroikía, “a dwelling abroad”). The correct English form is parish, spelled P-A-R-I-S-H.
Definition
- 1An administrative part of a diocese that has its own church.
- 2The community attending that church; the members of the parish.
- 3An ecclesiastical society, usually not bounded by territorial limits, but composed of those persons who choose to unite under the charge of a particular priest, clergyman, or minister; also, loosely, the territory in which the members of a congregation live.
- 4In any of various countries, an administrative subdivision of an area, often of a county.
- 5In any of various countries, an administrative subdivision of an area, often of a county.
Etymology
From Middle English parisshe, from Old French paroisse (compare the obsolete variant paroch, from Anglo-Norman paroche, parosse), from Late Latin parochia, from Ancient Greek παροικία (paroikía, “a dwelling abroad”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aprish,pairsh,parihs,parishh,parissh,parrish,parsih,pparish,praish
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of parish - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "parish"?
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Using “parish”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-R-I-S-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpæɹ.ɪʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “pars” - see the side-by-side comparison. parish vs pars
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.