petit

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

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈpɛti/, /pəˈtiː/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈpɛtət/, /pəˈti/, /pəˈtit/
  • Rhymes: (UK) -ɛti, (UK) -iː, (US) -iːt

Etymology 1

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

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
See also

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.

References

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “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

Catalan

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Adjective

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

  1. small, little
    Antonym: gros

Derived terms

Further reading

Finnish

Verb

petit

  1. second-person singular past indicative of pettää

Anagrams

Franco-Provençal

Etymology

Compare French petit.

Adjective

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

  1. little
    Synonyms: pègno, petiôt
    Antonym: grant

Derived terms

References

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

Further information

French

Etymology

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

    Pronunciation

    Adjective

    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

    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".
      A young rabbit is called a "kit".

    Usage notes

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

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • Louisiana Creole: piti
    • Michif: pchi
    • ⇒ Dutch: petieterig
    • → Portuguese: petiz

    Further reading

    Latin

    Pronunciation

    Verb

    petit

    1. third-person singular present active indicative of petō

    Middle English

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

    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

    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

    Etymology

    From Old French petit.

    Adjective

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

    1. small

    Descendants

    Noun

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

    1. something that is small

    Occitan

    Pronunciation

    Adjective

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

    1. small
      Synonym: pichon
      Antonym: grand

    Derived terms

    Further reading

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

    Old French

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

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

      Adjective

      petit m (oblique and nominative feminine singular petite)

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

      Declension

      Case masculine feminine neuter
      singular subject petiz petite petit
      oblique petit petite petit
      plural subject petit petites petit
      oblique petiz petites petit

      Descendants

      References

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