parochial
/pəˈɹoʊki.əl/adjective, noun
parochial is spelled P-A-R-O-C-H-I-A-L: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, parochial means “Pertaining to a parish” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in parochial?
| Letters | 9: P-A-R-O-C-H-I-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 27,150th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is parochial?
Parochial appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce parochial?
- UK /pəˈɹəʊkɪəl/
- US /pəˈɹoʊki.əl/
Parochial has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-parochial.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of parochial
- more parochial comparative
- most parochial superlative
- parochials plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does parochial mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Pertaining to a parish.
The parish council handles parochial affairs. [civil context]
- 2
derogatoryCharacterized 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.
noun
- 1
A parochial individual.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Parochial in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | paroissial , étriqué, égocentrique, provincial |
| German | Gemeinde-, Pfarr-, Pfarrei-, kirchlich , engstirnig, beschränkt |
| Portuguese | paroquial , provinciano |
| Spanish | parroquial , provinciano |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does parochial come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).