petit
English
editPronunciation
edit- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈpɛti/, /pəˈtiː/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈpɛtət/, /pəˈti/, /pəˈtit/
- Rhymes: (UK) -ɛti, (UK) -iː, (US) -iːt
Etymology 1
editFrom 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
editpetit (comparative more petit, superlative most petit)
- (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?
- 1684 or 1685 February 22, Robert South, A Sermon preached at Westminster-Abbey:
- Petty, in its various senses:
Derived terms
edit- petit bag
- petit bourgeois
- petit bribing, petit-bribing
- petit canon
- petit cape
- petit captain
- petit chapman
- petit constable
- petit custom
- petit final
- petit god
- petit juror
- petit jury
- petit larceny
- petit maître
- petit morel
- petit officer
- petit pâté
- petit sergeant
- petit sergeanty, petit serjeanty
- petit session
- petit souper
- petit treason
Related terms
editSee also
editNoun
editpetit (plural petits)
Etymology 2
editFrom French petit (“brevier”) directly or via German Petit (“brevier”).
Noun
editpetit (uncountable)
References
edit- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “petit”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ “petite”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
Anagrams
editCatalan
editEtymology
editInherited from Vulgar Latin pittitus, an expressive creation (with variant forms pitinnus, pitulus, piccinus, pitikkus, etc.). Compare Occitan and French petit.
Pronunciation
editAdjective
editpetit (feminine petita, masculine plural petits, feminine plural petites)
Derived terms
editFurther reading
edit- “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
editVerb
editpetit
Anagrams
editFranco-Provençal
editEtymology
editAdjective
editpetit (feminine petita, masculine plural petits, feminine plural petites) (ORB, broad)
Derived terms
editReferences
edit- petit in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
- petit in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu
Further information
edit- ALF: Atlas Linguistique de la France[1] [Linguistic Atlas of France] – map 623: “mon petit garçon” – on lig-tdcge.imag.fr
- Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “*pettīttus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 8: Patavia–Pix, page 342
French
editEtymology
editInherited 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
editpetit (feminine petite, masculine plural petits, feminine plural petites, comparative moindre, superlative le moindre)
- small
- Antonym: grand
- un petit verre de vin ― a small glass of wine
- little
- un petit garçon ― a little boy
- petty
- Certaines personnes sont vraiment petites à propos des plus petites choses.
- Some people are really petty about the smallest things.
Usage notes
editOnly three French adjectives have an irregular comparative: petit (moindre, but in certain senses only), mauvais (pire) and bon (meilleur).
Noun
editpetit m (plural petits, feminine petite)
- small one (anything that is small)
- little one (anything that is little)
- little one; child (of humans or other animals)
- the young (of a species)
- Le petit du lapin s’appelle le "lapereau".
- A young rabbit is called a "kit".
Usage notes
editOften contracted, in popular or familiar speech, to p’tit (/pti/).
Derived terms
edit- à petit feu
- aller son petit bonhomme de chemin
- au petit bonheur
- aux petits oignons
- avoir un petit creux
- centre de la petite enfance
- chercher la petite bête
- comme des petits pains
- être aux petits soins
- être sur un petit nuage
- femme de petite vertu
- il n’y a pas de petits profits
- jouer petit bras
- le monde est petit
- le petit oiseau va sortir
- les petits ruisseaux font les grandes rivières
- mon petit
- mon petit doigt m’a dit
- nom d’un petit bonhomme
- parc aux petits
- petit à petit
- petit ami
- Petit Berlin
- petit blanc
- petit bois
- petit boulot
- petit bras
- petit coin
- Petit Colorado
- petit comité
- petit copain
- petit déjeuner
- petit doigt
- petit écran
- petit épeautre
- petit filet
- petit four
- petit joueur
- petit jour
- petit juif
- petit largue
- petit mal
- petit matin
- petit monde
- petit nègre
- petit pain
- petit pain au chocolat
- petit panda
- petit père
- petit peuple
- petit pois
- petit poisson deviendra grand
- petit pont
- petit récit
- petit-
- petit-bourgeois
- petite amie
- petite annonce
- petite bière
- petite bière
- petite bite
- petite bourgeoisie
- petite capitale
- petite copine
- petite couronne
- petite cuiller
- petite culotte
- petite finale
- petite frappe
- petite main
- petite mort
- petite nature
- petite nyctale
- Petite Ourse
- petite perception
- petite pluie abat grand vent
- Petite Russie
- petite sœur
- petite souris
- petite vérole
- petites gens
- petites heures
- petites lèvres
- petits yeux
- plus petit commun multiple
- pour la petite histoire
- regarder par le petit bout de la lorgnette
- se faire petit
- se faire tout petit
- s’amuser comme un petit fou
- vilain petit canard
Descendants
editFurther reading
edit- “petit”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Latin
editPronunciation
edit- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /ˈpe.tit/, [ˈpɛt̪ɪt̪]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈpe.tit/, [ˈpɛːt̪it̪]
Verb
editpetit
Middle English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom 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
editpetit
- 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
editEtymology
editFrom Old French petit.
Adjective
editpetit m (feminine singular petite, masculine plural petitz, feminine plural petites)
Descendants
edit- French: petit
Noun
editpetit m (plural petits, feminine singular petite, feminine plural petites)
- something that is small
Occitan
editPronunciation
editAudio: (file)
Adjective
editpetit m (feminine singular petita, masculine plural petits, feminine plural petitas)
Derived terms
editFurther reading
editOld French
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Latin *pitittus (compare Latin pitinnus, pitulus), which according to Watkins is of imitative origin.[1]
Adjective
editpetit m (oblique and nominative feminine singular petite)
Declension
editDescendants
editReferences
edit- ^ “petit”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɛti
- Rhymes:English/ɛti/2 syllables
- Rhymes:English/iː
- Rhymes:English/iː/2 syllables
- Rhymes:English/iːt
- Rhymes:English/iːt/2 syllables
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
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- English terms derived from Latin
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- English onomatopoeias
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- en:Law
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- en:Printing
- English dated terms
- en:People
- Catalan terms inherited from Vulgar Latin
- Catalan terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- Catalan onomatopoeias
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan terms with audio pronunciation
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan adjectives
- Finnish non-lemma forms
- Finnish verb forms
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- ORB, broad
- French terms inherited from Old French
- French terms derived from Old French
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- French terms derived from Vulgar Latin
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- fr:Size
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- Occitan lemmas
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- Old French terms inherited from Latin
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- Old French onomatopoeias
- Old French lemmas
- Old French adjectives