# pettychaps

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. Any of several species of small European passerine songbirds, including the willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus), the chiffchaffs (Phylloscopus spp.), and the western Orphean warbler (Sylvia hortensis).

## Etymology
Uncertain. Probably imitative of the bird’s call, with influence from petty (“small”) and either chap (“jaw; bill of a bird”) or chap (“person”). Alternatively, perhaps directly from petty (in turn from Middle English pety (“tiny”)) and chaps (“jaws”). Attested from the 1670s.

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