petit – Wiktionary

See also: Petit, pétit

,

and

pētīt

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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

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petit (comparative more petit, superlative most petit)

Derived terms

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Related terms

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See also

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Noun

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petit (plural petits)

1. (

   obsolete

   ,

   usually in the

   usually in the plural

   )

   A little schoolboy.

2. (

   obsolete

   ,

   rare

   )

   A kind of pigeon.

Etymology 2

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From French petit (“brevier”) directly or via German Petit (“brevier”).

Noun

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petit (uncountable)

1. (

   printing

   ,

   dated

   ,

   French and German contexts

   French and German contexts

   )

   brevier

   Synonym of

Anagrams

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Catalan

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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• (

  Balearic

  ,

  Central

  )

  IPA(key):

  /pəˈtit/

• (

  Valencian

  )

  IPA(key):

  /peˈtit/

• Audio

Adjective

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

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Finnish

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Verb

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petit

1. pettää.

   Second-person singular indicative past form of

Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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• IPA(key):

  /pə.ti/

  ,

  /p.ti/

• audio

• (

  Quebec

  )

  IPA(key):

  [p(ə)tsi]

• (

  Louisiana

  )

  IPA(key):

  /pti/

  ,

  /piti/

  ,

  /ti/

Adjective

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

1. small

   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

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Only three French adjectives have an irregular comparative: petit (moindre, but in certain senses only), mauvais (pire) and bon (meilleur).

Noun

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petit m (plural petits, feminine petite)

1. small one

   (

   anything that is small

   )

2. little one

   (

   anything that is little

   )

3. little onechild

   (

   of humans or other animals

   )

4. the young (of a species)

   Le petit du lapin s’appelle le “lapereau”.

Usage notes

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

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Further reading

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

  [

  Digitized Treasury of the French Language

  ]

  , 2012.

Latin

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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petit

Middle French

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Etymology

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From Old French petit.

Adjective

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

Descendants

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Noun

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

1. something that is small

Occitan

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Pronunciation

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• Audio

Adjective

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

Derived terms

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Further reading

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

Old French

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Adjective

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petit m (oblique and nominative feminine singular petite)

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

Declension

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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

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• Middle French: petit
  • French: petit

• →

  English: petitpetty

• →

  Italian: petitto

References

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