Wiktionary

petit

See also: Petit, pétit, pētīt, and petit-

English edit

Pronunciation edit

Etymology 1 edit

From Middle English petit, from Old French petit, from Latin *pitittus, diminutive of Latin *pit-, possibly from Proto-Celtic *pett- (“part, bit, piece”). Compare also Latin pitinnus (“small”), pitulus. Doublet of petty.

Adjective edit

petit (comparative more petit, superlative most petit)

  1. (now uncommon, of size) Petite: small, little.
  2. Petty, in its various senses:
    1. (obsolete) Few in number.
    2. (now uncommon, of objects) Unimportant; cheap; easily replaced.
    3. (law, of scale) Small, minor.
    4. (now rare) Secondary; lower in rank.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
See also edit

Noun edit

petit (plural petits)

  1. (obsolete, usually in the plural) A little schoolboy.
  2. (obsolete, rare) A kind of pigeon.

Etymology 2 edit

From French petit (“brevier”) directly or via German Petit (“brevier”).

Noun edit

petit (uncountable)

  1. (printing, dated, French and German contexts) Synonym of brevier.

Anagrams edit

Catalan edit

Etymology edit

Inherited from Vulgar Latin pittitus, an expressive creation (with variant forms pitinnus, pitulus, piccinus, pitikkus, etc.). Compare Occitan and French petit.

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

petit (feminine petita, masculine plural petits, feminine plural petites)

  1. small, little
    Antonym: gros

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

Finnish edit

Verb edit

petit

  1. second-person singular past indicative of pettää

Anagrams edit

French edit

Etymology edit

Inherited from Old French petit, from Vulgar Latin pittitus (775; compare Latin pitinnus, pitulus). Compare Spanish pequeño.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /pə.ti/, /p.ti/, (in liaison) /pə.ti.t‿/, /p.ti.t‿/
  • audio(file)
  • (Quebec) IPA(key): [p(ə)tsi]
  • (Louisiana) IPA(key): /pti/, /piti/, /ti/

Adjective edit

petit (feminine petite, masculine plural petits, feminine plural petites, comparative moindre, superlative le moindre)

  1. small
    Antonym: grand
    un petit verre de vin ― a small glass of wine
  2. little
    un petit garçon ― a little boy
  3. petty
    Certaines personnes sont vraiment petites à propos des plus petites choses.
    Some people are really petty about the smallest things.

Usage notes edit

Only three French adjectives have an irregular comparative: petit (moindre, but in certain senses only), mauvais (pire) and bon (meilleur).

Noun edit

petit m (plural petits, feminine petite)

  1. small one (anything that is small)
  2. little one (anything that is little)
  3. little one; child (of humans or other animals)
  4. the young (of a species)
    Le petit du lapin s’appelle le "lapereau".
    A young rabbit is called a "kit".

Usage notes edit

Often contracted, in popular or familiar speech, to p’tit (/pti/).

Derived terms edit

Descendants edit

  • Louisiana Creole: piti
  • Michif: pchi
  • → Portuguese: petiz

Further reading edit

Latin edit

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

petit

  1. third-person singular present active indicative of petō

Middle English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Middle French petit, from Old French petit. See Modern English petit, above. Attested from at least the 13th century, with use in names earlier.

Adjective edit

petit

  1. small
    • 1454, Church of England, Province of Canterbury, Fifty earliest English wills in the Court of Probate, London, published 1964, “Thomas Bathe, of Bristol, 1420”:
      Item I petit brase morter, I pesteƚƚ de ferro.
      Item: one small brass mortar, with one pestle of iron.

Middle French edit

Etymology edit

From Old French petit.

Adjective edit

petit m (feminine singular petite, masculine plural petitz, feminine plural petites)

  1. small

Descendants edit

Noun edit

petit m (plural petits, feminine singular petite, feminine plural petites)

  1. something that is small

Occitan edit

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

petit m (feminine singular petita, masculine plural petits, feminine plural petitas)

  1. small
    Synonym: pichon
    Antonym: grand

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

  • Joan de Cantalausa (2006) Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians‎[1], 2 edition, →ISBN, page 743.

Old French edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Latin *pitittus (compare Latin pitinnus, pitulus), which according to Watkins is of imitative origin.[1]

Adjective edit

petit m (oblique and nominative feminine singular petite)

  1. small, little
  2. worthless; valueless
  3. poor; of poor quality

Declension edit

Declension of petit
Number Case Masculine Feminine Neuter
Singular Subject petiz petite petit
Oblique petit petite petit
Plural Subject petit petites petit
Oblique petiz petites petit

Descendants edit

References edit

  1. ^ “petit”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
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