What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Town vs Parish - What's the difference?

town | parish |

As nouns the difference between town and parish

is that town is a settlement; an area with residential districts, shops and amenities, and its own local government; especially one larger than a village and smaller than a city while parish is in the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church or certain civil government entities such as the state of Louisiana, an administrative part of a diocese that has its own church.

As a verb parish is

to place (an area, or rarely a person) into one or more parishes.

town

English

Noun

(wikipedia town) (en noun)
  • A settlement; an area with residential districts, shops and amenities, and its own local government; especially one larger than a village and smaller than a city.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-05-10, author=Audrey Garric
  • , volume=188, issue=22, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) citation , passage=As towns continue to grow, replanting vegetation has become a form of urban utopia and green roofs are spreading fast. Last year 1m square metres of plant-covered roofing was built in France, as much as in the US, and 10 times more than in Germany, the pioneer in this field. In Paris 22 hectares of roof have been planted, out of a potential total of 80 hectares.}}
  • Any more urbanized center than the place of reference.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=Judge Short had gone to town , and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.}}
  • A rural settlement in which a market was held at least once a week.
  • The residents (as opposed to (gown): the students, faculty, etc.) of a community which is the site of a university.
  • (label) (Used to refer to a town or similar entity under discussion).
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=I had occasion
  • (label) A municipal organization, such as a corporation, defined by the laws of the entity of which it is a part.
  • (label) An enclosure which surrounded the mere homestead or dwelling of the lord of the manor.
  • (label) The whole of the land which constituted the domain.
  • (label) A collection of houses enclosed by fences or walls.
  • (Palsgrave)
  • A farm or farmstead; also, a court or farmyard.
  • Usage notes

    An urban city is typically larger than a rural town, which in turn is typically larger than a village. In rural areas, a town'' is considered urban. In urban areas, a ''town is considered suburban; a village in the suburbs.

    Derived terms

    * boom town/boomtown * company town * county town * cow town * cross town/cross-town/crosstown * downtown * ghost town * go to town * hometown * in town * jerkwater town * man about town * market town * new town * on the town * one-horse town * only game in town * out of town * paint the town red * post town * satellite town * shanty town * shire town * skip town * small-town * talk of the town * toast of the town * town and gown * town ball * town car * town center/town centre * town-crier * townee * towner * town gas * town hall/townhall * town house/townhouse * townhome * townie * townland * townless * townlet * town planning * townsfolk * township * townsman * town square * town twinning * townwide * twin town * uptown * (town)

    See also

    * urban * suburban * rural

    Statistics

    *

    parish

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) paroche, parosse, from (etyl) paroisse, from .

    Noun

    (wikipedia parish) (es)
  • In the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church or certain civil government entities such as the state of Louisiana, an administrative part of a diocese that has its own church.
  • * , chapter=7
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=With some of it on the south and more of it on the north of the great main thoroughfare that connects Aldgate and the East India Docks, St.?Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London.}}
  • The community attending that church; the members of the parish.
  • (US) An 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.
  • A civil subdivision of a British county, often corresponding to an earlier ecclesiastical parish.
  • An administrative subdivision in Louisiana that is equivalent to a county in other U.S. states.
  • Derived terms
    * parishioner * parish church * parish register

    See also

    * parochial

    Verb

    (en-verb)
  • (lb) To place (an area, or rarely a person) into one or more es.
  • * 1917 , Annual Report of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Board of Home Missions and Church Extension, page 70:
  • * 1972 , Winter's Tales from Ireland , volume 2, page 55:
  • Father Malachy, a distant cousin, who was parished somewhere in the depths of Co. Monaghan, sat firmly in the chair in the corner, sipping his tea from a china cup.
  • * 1991', Melissa Bradley Kirkpatrick, ''Re-'''parishing the Countryside: Progressivism and Religious Interests in Rural Life Reform, 1908-1934
  • * 1992 , Parish and town councils in England: a survey , pages 17 and 21:
  • Consequently, approaching half of the non-metropolitan population of England is parished (Table 2.2).
    The South West and East Midlands are also particularly well parished' while the North West, West Midlands and South East are poorly ' parished .
  • * 2011 , Sustainable development in the Localism Bill: third report (ISBN 0215557050), page 5
  • Dr Whitehead: In your written evidence, you have all in different ways made the distinction between NDOs in parished areas and NDOs in non-parished areas,
  • To visit residents of a parish.
  • * 1896 , Mrs. Humphry Ward, Sir George Tressady , volume 1 (ISBN 3842496737):
  • a chair immediately opposite to Tressady's place remained vacant. It was being kept for the eldest son of the house, his mother explaining carelessly to Lord Fontenoy that she believed he was "Out parishing somewhere, as usual."
  • * 1903 , Maxwell Gray, Richard Rosny , page 210:
  • "You will take pleasure in parishing'. Mother used to ' parish ."
    "How do you know I like parishing ?"
    "Your uncle said so."
    "Oh! did he?"
    "And you may like the rectory people; it's a fine old house, and often full of visitors."
  • * 1921 , Margaret Pedler, The Splendid Folly , page 46:
  • "Are you going ‘parishing ’ this morning?" inquired Diana, as she watched him fill and light his pipe.
  • *
  • Etymology 2

    Verb

    (es)