Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PAR'ISH, n. [Fr. paroisse; It. parrocchia; Sp. parroquia; Arm. parres; Ir. parraiste; usually deduced from the Low L. parochia, Gr. παροικια, a dwelling or near residence; παρα, near, and οικος, house, or οικεω, to dwell; or more probably from the Greek παροχη, a salary or largess, an allowance for support, from παρεχω, to afford, yield or supply, whence L. parocha, entertainment given to embassadors at the public expense; whence It. parrocchii. If Parish is to be deduced from either of these sources, it is probably from the latter, and parish is equivalent to benefice, living, as pre-bend, from L. præbeo. In German, pfarre signifies a benefice or parish; pfarrer or pfarrherr, a parson, the lord of a living or parish, and this is evidently from the same root as parson. I know not the origin of pfarre, but it coincides in elements with the W. pori, to graze, Corn. peuri, L. voro, Gr. βορα. The Italian and Spanish words are undoubtedly from the Latin and Greek, and the French paroisse may be from the same source.]

1. The precinct or territorial jurisdiction of a secular priest, or the precinct, the inhabitants of which belong to the same church.
2. In some of the American states, parish is an ecclesiastical society not bounded by territorial limits; but the inhabitants of a town belonging to one church, though residing promiscuously among the people belonging to another church, are called a parish. This is particularly the case in Massachusetts. In Connecticut, the legal appellation of such a society is ecclesiastical society.