PETIT

petit. Petit, a. small, inconsiderable, trifling, mean

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Pet″it (?), a. [[F. See Petty.]] Small; little; insignificant; mean; — Same as Petty. 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 maître (�). [] 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.