FromMiddle Englishpetit, fromOld Frenchpetit, fromLate Latin*pitittus, diminutive ofLatin*pit-, possibly fromProto-Celtic*pett-(“part, bit, piece”) (seeLatinpettia),[1] or ofimitative origin.[2]
Compare alsoLatinpitinnus(“small”),pitulus,Italianpezza.Doublet ofpetty.
petit (comparativemorepetit,superlativemostpetit)
- (now uncommon, of size)Petite:small,little.
- Petty, in itsvarioussenses:
- (obsolete)Few innumber.
- (now uncommon, of objects)Unimportant;cheap;easilyreplaced.
- (law, of scale)Small,minor.
- (now rare)Secondary;lower inrank.
petit (pluralpetits)
- (obsolete, usually in theplural) Alittleschoolboy.
- (obsolete, rare) Akind ofpigeon.
FromFrenchpetit(“brevier”) directly or viaGermanPetit(“brevier”).
petit (uncountable)
- (printing, dated, French and German contexts)Synonym ofbrevier.
Inherited fromVulgar Latinpittitus, an expressive creation (with variant formspitinnus,pitulus,piccinus,pitikkus, etc.). CompareOccitan andFrenchpetit.
petit (femininepetita,masculine pluralpetits,feminine pluralpetites)
- small,little
- Antonym:gros
- “petit”, inDiccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition,Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan:Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
- “petit”, inGran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana,Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana,2026
- “petit” inDiccionari normatiu valencià,Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “petit” inDiccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
petit
- second-personsingularpastindicative ofpettää
CompareFrenchpetit.
petit (femininepetita,masculine pluralpetits,feminine pluralpetites)(ORB, broad)
- little
- Synonyms:pègno,petiôt
- Antonym:grant
- petit in DicoFranPro:Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – ondicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
- petit in Lo trèsor Arpitan – onarpitan.eu
Further information
[edit]Inherited fromOld Frenchpetit, fromVulgar Latinpittitus (775; compareLatinpitinnus,pitulus). CompareSpanishpequeño.
petit (femininepetite,masculine pluralpetits,feminine pluralpetites,comparativemoindre,superlativele moindre)
- small
- Antonym:grand
- unpetit verre de vin ―asmall glass of wine
- little
- unpetit garçon ―alittle boy
- petty
Certaines personnes sont vraimentpetites à propos des plus petites choses.- Some people are reallypetty about the smallest things.
Only three French adjectives have an irregular comparative:petit (moindre, but in certain senses only),mauvais (pire) andbon (meilleur).
petit m (pluralpetits,femininepetite)
- small one(anything that is small)
- little one(anything that is little)
- little one;child(of humans or other animals)
- theyoung (of aspecies)
Lepetit du lapin s'appelle le "lapereau".- Ayoung rabbit is called a "kit".
Often contracted, in popular or familiar speech, top'tit (/pti/) ortit (/ti/).
petit
- third-personsingularpresentactiveindicative ofpetō
FromMiddle Frenchpetit, fromOld Frenchpetit. See ModernEnglishpetit, above. Attested from at least the 13th century, with use in names earlier.
petit
- small
1454, Church of England, Province of Canterbury,Fifty earliest English wills in the Court of Probate, London, published1964, “Thomas Bathe, of Bristol, 1420”:Item Ipetit brase morter, I pesteƚƚ de ferro.- Item: onesmall brass mortar, with one pestle of iron.
FromOld Frenchpetit.
petit m (feminine singularpetite,masculine pluralpetitz,feminine pluralpetites)
- small
petit m (pluralpetits,feminine singularpetite,feminine pluralpetites)
- something that issmall
petit m (feminine singularpetita,masculine pluralpetits,feminine pluralpetitas)
- small
- Synonym:pichon
- Antonym:grand
- Joan de Cantalausa (2006),Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians[2], 2nd edition,→ISBN, page743
FromVulgar Latinpittitus (compareLatinpitinnus,pitulus), which according to Watkins is ofimitative origin.[1]
petit m (oblique and nominative feminine singularpetite)
- small,little
- worthless;valueless
- poor; of poorquality
