Wiktionary

petty

See also: Petty

EnglishEdit

WOTD – 9 February 2022

EtymologyEdit

The adjective is derived from Middle English peti, pety (“little, small; minor”) [and other forms],[1] from Anglo-Norman petit, Middle French petit, and Old French peti, petit, pitet (“young; little, small; inferior; insignificant”) (modern French petit),[2] ultimately of imitative origin. It is no longer thought that the word is derived from Celtic.[3] Doublet of petit and petite.

The noun is derived from the adjective.[2]

PronunciationEdit

AdjectiveEdit

petty (comparative pettier or more petty, superlative pettiest or most petty)

  1. (often derogatory)
    1. Having little or no importance. [from 16th c.]
      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:insignificant
      Antonyms: see Thesaurus:important
      a petty fault    petty squabbles
    2. Of persons or their behaviour: marked by or reflective of undesirably limited interests, sympathies, or views; begrudging, selfish, small-minded; also, preoccupied with subjects having little or no importance and not mindful of broader concerns. [from 16th c.]
      Synonyms: grudgeful, grudging
      Antonym: broad-minded
      Such literature may well be anathema to those who are too docile and petty for their own good.
      That corporation is only slightly pettier than they are greedy, and they are overdue to reap the consequences.
      • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Expence”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, OCLC 863521290, page 166:
        [C]ommonly, it is leſſe diſhonourable, to abridge pettie Charges, then to ſtoope to pettie Gettings.
      • 1856 March 6, Florence Nightingale, “The ‘Confidential Report’ [Letter to Uncle Sam Smith]”, in Sue M. Goldie, editor, Florence Nightingale: Letters from the Crimea 1854–1856, Manchester; New York, N.Y.: Mandolin, Manchester University Press, published 1997, →ISBN, page 225:
        I will give you the slightest, pettiest instance of the hindrance which the pettiest official can make out here, if so minded. […] [T]he Senior Purveyor at Balaclava refuses to cash my Cheques, for no other reason discoverable than the love of petty annoyance & the hope of injuring my credit, in the minds of ignorant servants.
      • 1908, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, “Lying to Cecil”, in A Room with a View, London: Edward Arnold, OCLC 364461, part II, page 264:
        He began to walk up and down the room, and she grew more and more vexed at his dignified behaviour. She had counted on his being petty. It would have made things easier for her. By a cruel irony she was drawing but all that was finest in his disposition.
      • 2013, Tim Parks, “Verona–Milano”, in Italian Ways: On and Off the Rails from Milan to Palermo, London: Harvill Secker, →ISBN, page 87:
        But while in the beginning those political criteria [in Italian railway construction] were grandiose and national, just and even necessary, later they were to become pettier and pettier, to the point that they were almost always more regional than rational.
  2. (historical) Of or relating to the lowest grade or level of school; junior, primary.
    • 1756 June 13, J[ames] M[urphy] French, “[Letters, Correspondence, and Poetry, of James Murphy French.] To Henry Duncombe, Esq.”, in Jesse Foot, The Life of Arthur Murphy, Esq., London: […] [F]or J. Faulder, […]; by John Nichols and Son, […], published 1811, OCLC 5326043, page 123:
      Friends are separated for long portions of time even while they live; at last they take their leave for ever: although, I remember, when you left me in the petty form at Westminster, I soon afterwards found you in a higher remove: and this world is only the petty form of the universe; so I not only expect to pass a social hour with you here, but am in hopes of a merry meeting in a better place; […]
    • 1813, M[ichael] Russel, “[Appendix.] No. II. On Westminster School.”, in View of the System of Education at Present Pursued in the Schools and Universities of Scotland. […], Edinburgh: […] John Moir, […], sold by Bell & Bradfute, […], OCLC 1013377252, page xx:
      This finishes their education in the under school, in which they have now been three years and a half, and they are next moved into the upper, and probably at the age of ten or eleven; six or seven being the age at which boys are generally sent into the petty form.
    • 1819 July 5, “Fulham. [The Latymer, or Boys Charity School, at Hammersmith.]”, in Second Report of the Commissioners Appointed in Pursuance of an Act of the 58th Year of His Present Majesty, Cap. 91. Intituled An Act for Appointing Commissioners to Enquire Concerning Charities in England, for the Education of the Poor (House of Lords, the Sessional Papers 1801–1833; 100, part II), [London: House of Commons of the United Kingdom], OCLC 67360544, page 86:
      [T]he feoffees should cause the boys to be put to some petty school to learn to read English till they attain 13, and to instruct them in some part of God's true religion.
    • 1846, William Henry Teale, “The Life of Thomas Wilson, D.D., Bishop of Sodor and Man”, in Lives of English Divines; […], London: James Burns, […], OCLC 936405389, pages 305–306:
      [B]y the assistance of that truly Christian gentlewoman, the Lady Elizabeth Hastings, he increased the number of petty schools throughout the island.
    • 1862 June 28, James Augustus Hessey, witness, “Minutes of Evidence. Merchant Taylors’.”, in Report of Her Majesty’s Commissioners Appointed to Inquire into the Revenues and Management of Certain Colleges and Schools, and the Studies Pursued and Instruction Given therein; […], volume VI (Evidence, Part 2), London: […] George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode, […] [f]or Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, published 1864, OCLC 310975871, paragraph 346, page 126, column 1:
      [O]riginally there were six forms in the school; of these the highest was called the Sixth. Afterwards, the number of forms was increased to eight; the highest was still called the Sixth, but the Fourth form was divided into two, the Fourth and the Fourth Division, and the First into two also, the First and the Petty or Anonymous form. […] Some alterations were made, then or soon after, lower down in the school. The Fifth form was subdivided into the upper and lower Fifth; the Division into the upper and lower Division; and the Petty form was abolished.
  3. (obsolete except in set phrases)
    1. Little or small in size.
      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:small
      Antonyms: see Thesaurus:large
    2. Secondary in importance or rank; minor, subordinate.
      Antonyms: grand, high
      petty cash    petty officer
      • c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene i], page 32, column 2:
        3. Out[law]. […] My ſelfe vvas from Verona baniſhed, / For practiſing to ſteale avvay a Lady, / And heire and Neece, alide vnto the Duke. / […] / 1. Out[law]. And I, for ſuch like petty crimes as theſe.
      • 1655, Thomas Fuller, “Section IV. To the Master, Wardens, and All the Members of the Honourable Company of Mercers, of London.”, in James Nichols, editor, The Church History of Britain, […], volume III, new edition, London: […] [James Nichols] for Thomas Tegg and Son, […], published 1837, OCLC 913056315, book IX, subsection 3–7 (Brown’s Opinions. […]), page 64:
        With his [Robert Brown's] assistant, Richard Harrison, a petty pedagogue, they inveighed against bishops, ecclesiastical courts, ceremonies, ordination of ministers, and what not; fancying here on earth a platform of a perfect church, without any faults (understand it thus, save those that are made by themselves) therein.
      • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398, lines 530–532, page 37:
        Fearleſs of danger, like a petty God / I walk'd about admir'd of all and dreaded / On hoſtile ground, none daring my affront.
      • 1711 June 1 (Gregorian calendar)​, Joseph Addison, “MONDAY, May 21, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 70; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, OCLC 191120697, page 425:
        At the time the poem we are now treating of was written, the dissensions of the barons, who were then so many petty princes, ran very high, whether they quarrelled among themselves, or with their neighbours, and produced unspeakable calamities to the country.
      • 1711 December 8, [Jonathan Swift], The Conduct of the Allies, and of the Late Ministry, in Beginning and Carrying on the Present War, 4th edition, London: […] John Morphew […], published 1711, OCLC 1204920679, page 53:
        Can there an Example be given in the whole Courſe of this War, where we have treated the pettieſt Prince, with whom we had to deal, in ſo contemptuous a manner?
      • 1750, [Charles-Louis] de Secondat, Baron [de La Brède et] de Montesquieu, “Of the Communication of Power”, in Thomas Nugent, transl., The Spirit of Laws. […], volume I, London: […] J[ohn] Nourse, and P. Vaillant, […], OCLC 1181051710, book V (That the Laws Given by the Legislature Ought to be Relative to the Nature of Government), page 94:
        Under moderate governments, the law is prudent in all its parts, perfectly well known, and the pettieſt magiſtrates are capable of following it. But in a deſpotic ſtate where the prince's will is the law, though the prince were wiſe, yet how could the magiſtrate follow a will he does not know?
      • 1764 December 19 (indicated as 1765)​, Oliver Goldsmith, The Traveller, or A Prospect of Society. A Poem. […], London: […] J[ohn] Newbery, […], OCLC 1205185272, pages 19–20:
        Fear, pity, juſtice, indignation ſtart, / Tear off reſerve, and bare my ſwelling heart; / 'Till half a patriot, half a coward grown, / I fly from petty tyrants to the throne.
      • 1769, William Blackstone, “Of Principals and Accessories”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book IV (Of Public Wrongs), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, OCLC 65350522, page 36:
        [I]n treſpaſs all are principals, becauſe the law, quae de minimis non curat, does not deſcend to diſtinguiſh the different ſhades of guilt in petty miſdemeſnors. It is a maxim, that acceſſorius ſequitur naturam ſui principalis: and therefore an acceſſory cannot be guilty of a higher crime than his principal; being only puniſhed, as a partaker of his guilt. So that if a ſervant inſtigates a ſtranger to kill his maſter, this being murder in the ſtranger as principal, of courſe the ſervant is acceſſory only to the crime of murder; though, had he been preſent and aſſiſting, he would have been guilty as principal of petty treaſon, and the ſtranger of murder.
      • 1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Buckthorne, or The Young Man of Great Expectations”, in Tales of a Traveller, part 2 (Buckthorne and His Friends), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, […], OCLC 864083, pages 116–117:
        The ire of the monarch was not to be appeased. He had suffered in his person, and he had suffered in his purse; his dignity too had been insulted, and that went for something; for dignity is always more irascible the more petty the potentate.

Derived termsEdit

TranslationsEdit

of or relating to the lowest grade or level of school — see junior,‎ primary

See alsoEdit

NounEdit

petty (plural petties)

  1. (dialectal, euphemistic, informal) An outbuilding used as a lavatory; an outhouse, a privy.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:outhouse
    • 1848 September 27, Maria Josepha Stanley, Baroness Stanley of Alderley, “[Letter 245]”, in Nancy Mitford, editor, The Ladies of Alderley: Being the Letters between Maria Josepha, Lady Stanley of Alderley, and Her Daughter-in-law Henrietta Maria Stanley during the Years 1841–1850, London: Hamish Hamilton, published 1967, OCLC 893322380, page 172:
      If these houses had been built by his Lordship every one would have had his petty, at all events dividing the odour & also having a chance that some of the occupiers would clean out—but a common occupation is nobody's business, unless the owner of all the buildings takes it in hand.
    • 1852, Robert Rawlinson, “Appendix”, in Report to the General Board of Health on a Preliminary Inquiry into the Sewerage, Drainage, and Supply of Water, and the Sanitary Condition of the Inhabitants of the Township of Barton-upon-Irwell, in the County Palatine of Lancaster, London: […] George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode, […] for Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, OCLC 222891625, page 47:
      Cottages occupied by Betty Hines and others; petty in a very filthy state, wants walling. Two petties belonging to Mr. James Parr to be walled, and one next Thomas Wilkinson's to be removed further off.
    • 1868 January 1, “The Sanitary Condition of Manchester”, in The Manchester Monthly Record and Advertiser, Manchester: Abel Heywood and Son, […]; London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.; and Heywood and Co., […], OCLC 310136662, page 32:
      We have an evil in the excretal deposits, and in the ashes an antidote; but instead of applying the antidote, we keep the evil to itself, and suffer it to exercise its unmitigated power over the health of the household. […] Now the simple remedy for this would be, to construct the petties with several steps upward and backward, so as to be more over the centre of the ash-pit. […] Such an arrangement would ensure the mingling of the ashes with the excreta, by which the latter would be deodorised, and the evil suppressed.
  2. (historical) A class or school for young schoolboys.
    (class): Synonym: petty form
    (school): Synonyms: ABC, petty school
    • 1808–1810 (date written), William Hickey, “Early School Days”, in Alfred Spencer, editor, Memoirs of William Hickey, volume I (1749–1775), 7th edition, London: Hurst & Blackett, […], published [1913?], OCLC 54287773, page 13:
      […] I took my seat in what was denominated, "The Idle Class", that is, at the very bottom of the school, where all those who have not received some previous instruction in Latin are placed. I however soon got out of that disgraceful and ignorant form, passed with rapidity and eclat the under and upper petty, and entered into the upper first, […]
    • 1854, Arthur Pendennis [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], “In which the Author and the Hero Resume Their Acquaintance”, in The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family, volume I, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], OCLC 809623158, page 33:
      [S]uch a difference of age between lads at a public school puts intimacy out of the question—a junior ensign being no more familiar with the commander-in-chief at the Horse-Guards; or a barrister on his first circuit with my Lord Chief Justice on the bench, than the newly-breeched infant in the Petties with a senior boy in a tailed coat.
  3. (obsolete, chiefly in the plural, also figuratively) A little schoolboy, either in grade or size.
    • 1589, attributed to Thomas Nashe, “To the Discreet and Indifferent Reader”, in Martins Months Minde, that is, A Certaine Report, and True Description of the Death, and Funerals, of Olde Martin Marre-prelate, the Great Makebate of England, and Father of the Factions. […]; republished in Alexander B[alloch] Grosart, editor, The Complete Works of Thomas Nashe. […] (The Huth Library), volume I, [London; Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire: […] Hazell, Watson, and Viney] for private circulation only, 1883–1884, OCLC 229025498, page 150:
      [S]ome of them, which were the Petties and Punies of that ſchoole, whereof old Martin [Marprelate] was the maſter; though then he was but as ſome blinde and obſcure pariſh Clarke that taught in the Belfrie, not preſuming, as hee doth nowe, to preſſe into the Church, (that place in reſpect of the appurtenances being fitter for him) began but rawly with their little a, b, c.
    • 1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book III]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], OCLC 12997447, page 97:
      As the maiden therefore vvas comming into the market place, (for there vvere the ſchools for peties kept, of reading and vvriting) the Decemvirs man (a broker to ſerve his maſters luſt) laid hold upon her, avovving that ſhe vvas his bond-ſervants daughter, and therefore his bond-maid: commanding her to follovv him, and threatning beſides, that if ſhe made any ſtays, he vvould have her avvay perforce.
    • 1849, P. J. Mannex, “History, Topography, and Directory, of Furness and Cartmel, in Lancashire”, in History, Topography, and Directory, of Westmorland; and Lonsdale North of the Sands, in Lancashire; […], London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co., […]; Beverley, Yorkshire: […] W. B. Johnson, […], OCLC 1008298566, page 377:
      The Free Grammar School, at Cartmel, was originally only a parochial seminary, under the superintendence of the churchwardens and sidesmen of the parish, who, for a series of years, hired a master to whom they paid the interest of a few small bequests, the remainder of his salary being made up by quarterage from the scholars, except the children of poor parents, who were taught free. In 1635, the quarterage from grammarians was sixpence, and for petties, little ones, fourpence. […] In 1674, the quarterage for grammarians was raised to 8d., but no alteration was made for the petties.

TranslationsEdit

outbuilding used as a lavatory — see outhouse,‎ privy

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ “petī, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 “petty, adj. and n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2021; “petty, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “petit, adj. and n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2021; “petit, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further readingEdit

HungarianEdit

Alternative formsEdit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

petty (plural pettyek)

  1. dot, spot, fleck, speck
    Synonyms: folt, pont, paca, pecsét, csepp, (on the face) szeplő

Derived termsEdit

(Expressions):

DeclensionEdit

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
singular plural
nominative petty pettyek
accusative pettyet pettyeket
dative pettynek pettyeknek
instrumental pettyel pettyekkel
causal-final pettyért pettyekért
translative pettyé pettyekké
terminative pettyig pettyekig
essive-formal pettyként pettyekként
essive-modal — —
inessive pettyben pettyekben
superessive pettyen pettyeken
adessive pettynél pettyeknél
illative pettybe pettyekbe
sublative pettyre pettyekre
allative pettyhez pettyekhez
elative pettyből pettyekből
delative pettyről pettyekről
ablative pettytől pettyektől
non-attributive
possessive - singular 		pettyé pettyeké
non-attributive
possessive - plural 		pettyéi pettyekéi
Possessive forms of petty
possessor single possession multiple possessions
1st person sing. pettyem pettyeim
2nd person sing. pettyed pettyeid
3rd person sing. pettye pettyei
1st person plural pettyünk pettyeink
2nd person plural pettyetek pettyeitek
3rd person plural pettyük pettyeik

Further readingEdit

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