petting
/ˈpɛtɪŋ/noun, verb
petting is spelled P-E-T-T-I-N-G: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, petting means “The act of stroking or gently patting an animal” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of petting is pettings.
How many letters and syllables are in petting?
| Letters | 7: P-E-T-T-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 27,150th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is petting?
Petting appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th 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 petting?
- /ˈpɛtɪŋ/
- [ˈpʰɛɾɪŋ]
Petting 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)-Persent101-petting.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of petting
- pettings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does petting mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of stroking or gently patting an animal.
- 2
The act of kissing, stroking, etc., a person in a sexual manner.
- 3
The act of indulging or treating as a favourite.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of pet
I am petting my rabbit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Petting in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.