# petition

> English word · Noun · IPA /pəˈtɪʃ.ən/ · frequency rank #4,319

## Definitions
1. A formal written request made by an individual or a group of people to a sovereign or political authority, often containing many signatures, soliciting some grace, right, mercy, or the redress of some wrong or grievance.
2. A formal written application made to a magistrate or court for an order or a suit for divorce.
3. A prayer or supplication, especially of which is formal or humble and made to a deity, a sovereign, or an authority.

## Etymology
From Middle English, borrowed from Old French peticiun, from stem of Latin petitio, petitionem (“a request, solicitation”), from petere (“to require, seek, go forward”).

## Easily confused with
- **position** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/petition-vs-position)
- **petitioner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/petition-vs-petitioner)
- **partition** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/partition-vs-petition)

## Common misspellings (12)
`eptition`, `peittion`, `petiiton`, `petision`, `petitino`, `petitionn`, `petitoin`, `petittion`, `pettiion`, `pettition`, `ppetition`, `pteition`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/petition