petit

See also: Petit, pétit, and pētīt

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛti/, /pəˈtiː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛdi/, /pəˈti/, /pəˈtit/

Etymology 1

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

petit (comparative more petit, superlative most petit)

1. (now uncommon, of size) Petite: small, little.
   • 1684 or 1685 February 22, Robert South, A Sermon preached at Westminster-Abbey:
     • And by what small, petit Hints does the Mind catch hold of, and recover a vanishing Notion?
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

• petit bag
• petit bribing, petit-bribing
• petit canon
• petit cape
• petit captain
• petit chapman
• petit constable
• petit custom
• petit god
• petit juror
• petit jury
• petit larceny
• petit morel
• petit officer
• petit sergeant
• petit sergeanty, petit serjeanty
• petit session
• petit treason

 

Related terms

• petite, petty

See also

• puisne, puny

Noun

petit (plural petits)

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

Etymology 2

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

Noun

petit (uncountable)

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

Anagrams

• Petti

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Catalan

Etymology

From Old Occitan [Term?], from Vulgar Latin *pittitus, an expressive creation (with variant forms pitinnus, pitulus, piccinus, pitikkus, etc.). Compare French petit.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /pəˈtit/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /peˈtit/

Adjective

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

1. small, little

   Antonym: gros

Derived terms

• a les petites

Further reading

• “petit” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “petit” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “petit” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “petit” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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Finnish

Verb

petit

1. Second-person singular indicative past form of pettää.

Anagrams

• petti

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French

Etymology

From Old French petit, from Vulgar Latin pittitus (775; compare Latin pitinnus, pitulus), possibly from Celtic or Frankish. Compare Spanish pequeño.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pə.ti/, /p.ti/

• audio

  (file)

• (Quebec) IPA^(key): [p(ə)tsi]
• (Louisiana) IPA^(key): /pti/, /piti/, /ti/

Adjective

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

1. small

   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

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

Noun

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".

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

• mon petit
• petite bourgeoisie
• petit déjeuner
• petit pois
• petit récit, petits récits

Descendants

• Portuguese: petiz

Further reading

• “petit” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpe.tit/, [ˈpɛ.t̪ɪt̪]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpe.tit/, [ˈpɛː.t̪it̪]

Verb

petit

1. third-person singular present active indicative of petō

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Middle French

Etymology

From Old French petit.

Adjective

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

1. small

Descendants

• French: petit

Noun

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

1. something that is small

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Occitan

Adjective

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

1. small

   Synonym: pichon

   Antonym: grand

Derived terms

• petitesa

Further reading

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

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Old French

Alternative forms

• peti, pitet

Etymology

From Latin *pitittus (compare Latin pitinnus, pitulus).

Adjective

petit m (oblique and nominative feminine singular petite)

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

Declension

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

• Middle French: petit
  • French: petit
• → English: petit, petty