petit

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛti/, /pəˈtiː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛɾət/, /pəˈti/, /pəˈtit/
• Rhymes: (UK) -ɛti, (UK) -iː, (US) -iːt

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

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

Catalan

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

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

1. small, little

   Antonym: gros

Derived terms

• a les petites
• empetitir
• petitesa
• petitó

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, 2024
• “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.

Finnish

Verb

petit

1. second-person singular past indicative of pettää

Anagrams

• petti

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pə.ti/, /p.ti/, (in liaison) /pə.ti.t‿/, /p.ti.t‿/

• audio

  (file)

• (Quebec) IPA^(key):
• (Louisiana) IPA^(key): /pti/, /piti/, /ti/

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/).

Derived terms

Descendants

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

Further reading

• “petit”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpe.tit/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpe.tit/,

Verb

petit

1. third-person singular present active indicative of petō

Middle English

Alternative forms

• petyt, petyte, (error) peter

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

• French: petit

Noun

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

1. something that is small

Occitan

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

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.

Old French

Alternative forms

• peti, pitet

Etymology

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

Adjective

petit m (oblique and nominative feminine singular petite)

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

Declension

Descendants

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

References