petit

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Petit, pétit, pētīt, and petit-

English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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[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]
Related terms[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.

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]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /pə.ti/, /p.ti/, (in liaison) /pə.ti.t‿/, /p.ti.t‿/
  • audio(file)
  • (Quebec) IPA(key): [p(ə)tsi]
  • (Louisiana) IPA(key): /pti/, /piti/, /ti/

Adjective[edit]

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[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[1], 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]

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[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ “petit”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=petit&oldid=78548579"