PETIT • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Petit

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adjective

Petit adj. 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."

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 maître. A fop; a coxcomb; a ladies' man.

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.

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Etymology of 'Petit'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Petit" Quotes from Famous Books

... ticket. We would go to Jackson to vote. There would be a crowd. The last I voted was for Theodore Roosevelt. I voted here in Helena for years. I was on the petit jury for several ...

— Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States - Volume II. Arkansas Narratives. Part I • Work Projects Administration

... the Czar in his PETIT APPARTEMENT, Private Rooms [a fine free-and-easy nook of space!]. The company there consisted of the Countess Woronzow, a creature without any graces, bodily or mental, whom the Czar had chosen for his Mistress [snub-nosed, pock-marked, fat, and with a pert ...

— History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. XX. (of XXI.) • Thomas Carlyle

... lawful for vessels which shall enter the said ports of Cape Francois and Port Republicain after the 31st day of July next to depart from thence to any other port in said island between Monte Christi on the north and Petit Goave on the west; provided it be done with the consent of the Government of St. Domingo and pursuant to certificates or passports expressing such consent, signed by the consul-general of the United States or consul residing ...

— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 2 (of 4) of Volume 1: John Adams • Edited by James D. Richardson

... Born." It was in reality his first intimate connection with a big production. At the outset his ingenuity saved the enterprise from threatened destruction. Harry Petit, a local manager, announced a rival melodrama called "Taken From Life" at McVicker's Theater, and had set his opening date one night before the ...

— Charles Frohman: Manager and Man • Isaac Frederick Marcosson and Daniel Frohman

... de cours ni lieu Les chansons de ce petit Dieu A qui les peintres font des aisles? O vous dames et demoiselles Que Dieu fait pour estre son temple Et faites, sous mauvais exemple Retentir et chambres et sales, De chansons ...

— Curiosities of Literature, Vol. II (of 3) - Edited, With Memoir And Notes, By His Son, The Earl Of Beaconsfield • Isaac D'Israeli

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