Pēt'it, a.

(pĕt'ĭt) (Fr. pron. ptē'), a. [Fr. & Pr. petit, small, little, perhaps from Lat. petitum, something demanded or begged, a trifle, from petere, petitum, to demand, to beg; or of Celtic origin. Cf. W. pitit, pitit, very little, minute, or petty.] Small; little; mean;—same as PETTY. [Obs., except in legal language.]

And stammering age, to petit lads, In corners all will read thee. Drant.

By what small, petit hints does the mind catch hold of, and recover, a vanishing notion! South.

Petit constable, an inferior civil officer, subordinate to the high constable.—Petit jury, a jury of twelve men, who are impaneled to try causes at the bar of a court;—so called in distinction from the grand jury—Petit larceny, the stealing of goods of a certain specified small value or under;—opposed to grand larceny. The distinction is abolished in England.—Petit serjeanty (Eng. Law), the tenure of lands of the king, by the service of rendering to him annually some implement of war, as a bow, an arrow, a sword, lance, &c.—Petit treason, the crime of killing a person to whom the offender owed duty or subjection, as one's husband, master, mistress, and the like. This is treated and punished in the United States as murder only, and such is now the law in England. Warren's Blackstone.