The meaning of PETIT is petty —used chiefly in legal compounds.

PETIT definition: small; petty; minor. See examples of petit used in a sentence.

(Law) (prenominal) chiefly law of little or lesser importance; small: petit jury. [C14: from Old French: little, of obscure origin]

Jan 1, 2026 · 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.

Oct 28, 2025 · People started borrowing “petit” from French and using it to refer to someone or something that’s small, cute, or precious in a playful way. It’s like the digital version of calling your …

Place the butter, petit pois and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan. Add the petit pois, orange juice and honey to the leeks. In the US a petit four is totally exotic! I left with all the ignored petit fours in my …

There are six meanings listed in OED's entry for the word petit, three of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

May 22, 2024 · While petite is specific to describing women's body types and related clothing sizes, petit is a more general term used to describe smallness in various contexts, often as part of French …

petit (adj.) late 14c., "small, little; minor, trifling, insignificant," from Old French petit "small, little, young, few in numbers" (11c.), which is probably from the stem of Late Latin pitinnus "small," a word of …

Petit (pronounced /pəˈtiː/ or /pəˈtɪt/) is an adjective of French origin meaning “small” or “little.” This term can convey various connotations based on context, including size, importance, and degree.