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

English

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Etymology 1

edit

From Middle English petit, from Old French petit, from Late Latin *pitittus, diminutive of Latin *pit-, possibly from Proto-Celtic *pett- (part, bit, piece) (see Latin pettia),[1] or of imitative origin.[2]

Compare also Latin pitinnus (small), pitulus, Italian pezza. 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
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.

References

edit
  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “petit”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ^ petite”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.

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

Franco-Provençal

edit

Etymology

edit

Compare French petit.

Adjective

edit

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

  1. little
    Synonyms: pègno, petiôt
    Antonym: grant

Derived terms

edit

References

edit
  • petit in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
  • petit in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

Further information

edit

French

edit

Etymology

edit

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

Pronunciation

edit

Adjective

edit

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

  1. small
    Antonym: grand
    un petit verre de vina small glass of wine
  2. little
    un petit garçona 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[2], 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

Descendants

edit

References

edit