Meaning & use
parishioner
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablereligion
A person who belongs to a particular church parish, especially someone who attends its services regularly.
Grammar: Countable; plural parishioners. Refers to membership in a specific parish, not just any churchgoer.
Patterns
- a parishioner of a church
- regular parishioner
- the parishioners of the parish
Father Doyle greeted every parishioner by name as they left the church.
Parishioners raised the money to repair the roof of the old chapel.
Word forms
| plural | parishioners |
|---|
Common combinations
- regular parishioner
- She has been a regular parishioner at St. Mary's for over twenty years.
- parishioners attend Mass/services
- On feast days the church is filled with parishioners attending Mass.
- a parishioner of the parish
- As a parishioner of the parish, he volunteers to deliver meals to elderly neighbors.
Synonyms and how they differ
- churchgoer
- Describes anyone who attends church, while parishioner implies official membership in a particular parish.
- congregant
- A member of any worship congregation, including non-Christian ones; parishioner is tied to the parish system.
Word family
Commonly confused: parishioner or parish?
parishioner vs parish
The parish is the church district or community; a parishioner is one individual member of it.
Practice
A parishioner is someone who ______.
Choose one answer.
A parishioner is a member of a specific parish. The other options describe roles or activities that do not define parish membership.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “parishioner”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.