petit
/ˈpɛtət/adjective, noun
petit is spelled P-E-T-I-T: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, petit means “Petite: small, little” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in petit?
| Letters | 5: P-E-T-I-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 20,356th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is petit?
Petit appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce petit?
- UK /ˈpɛti/
- UK /pəˈtiː/
- US /ˈpɛtət/
Petit has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-petit.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-petit2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with petit?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as petit (/ɛtət/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: petti.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of petit
- more petit comparative
- most petit superlative
- petits plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does petit mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Petite: small, little.
And by what small, petit Hints does the Mind catch hold of, and recover a vanishing Notion?
- 2
obsoleteFew in number.
- 3
Unimportant; cheap; easily replaced.
- 4
Small, minor.
- 5
archaicSecondary; lower in rank.
noun
- 1
obsoleteA little schoolboy.
- 2
obsoleterareA kind of pigeon.
- 3
datedSynonym of brevier.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does petit come from?
From Middle English petit, from Old French petit, from Late Latin *pitittus, diminutive of Latin *pit-, possibly from Proto-Celtic *pett- (“part, bit, piece”) (see Latin pettia), or of imitative origin. Compare also Latin pitinnus (“small”), pitulus, Italian pezza. Doublet of petty.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).