Pet"i*oled (?), a. Petiolate.
Pet`i*ol"u*late (?), a. (Bot.) Supported by its own petiolule. Gray.
Pet"i*o*lule (?), n. [Cf. F. pÈtiolule.] (Bot.) A small petiole, or the
petiole of a leaflet.
Pet"it (?), a. [F. See Petty.] Small; little; insignificant; mean; --
Same as Petty. [Obs., except in legal language.]
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, 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, or under, a certain
specified small value; -- opposed to grand larceny. The distinction is
abolished in England. -- Petit maÓtre (&?;). [F., lit., little master.]
A fop; a coxcomb; a ladies' man. Goldsmith. -- Petit serjeanty (Eng.
Law), the tenure of lands of the crown, by the service of rendering
annually some implement of war, as a bow, an arrow, a sword, a flag,
etc. -- Petit treason, formerly, in England, the crime of killing a
person to whom the offender owed duty or subjection, as one's husband,
master, mistress, etc. The crime is now not distinguished from murder.
Pe*ti"tion (?), n. [F. pÈtition, L. petitio, fr. petere, petitum, to
beg, ask, seek; perh. akin to E. feather, or find.] 1. A prayer; a
supplication; an imploration; an entreaty; especially, a request of a
solemn or formal kind; a prayer to the Supreme Being, or to a person of
superior power, rank, or authority; also, a single clause in such a
prayer.
A house of prayer and petition for thy people.