civil parish

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

civil parish

Where it comes from

The word parish for a local area of church and/or government authority predates rigorous modern distinctions between ecclesiastical and civil affairs. The term civil parish uses intentional pleonasm, in a way that natural language sometimes does, to easily and efficiently ensure clarity through disambiguation. By the same underlying principle, the term ecclesiastical parish is retronymic.

noun civil parishes

In any of various countries, an administrative subdivision of an area, often of a county.
Similar: parish[Appendix:Glossary
A civil subdivision of a British county, often corresponding to an earlier ecclesiastical parish; a similar subdivision in Ireland.
Similar: parish[Appendix:Glossary, CP

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"civil parish." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/civil%20parish. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

civil parish. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/civil%20parish

Chicago

"civil parish." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/civil%20parish.

BibTeX

@misc{civil_parish_2026,
  title = {civil parish},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/civil%20parish},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}