petit

\pə.ti\

/\pə.ti\/ adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“petit” has 7 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #171. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#171
frequency rank, French
6,826
“P” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - De taille réduite.

Corpus desk

Index FR-petit · petit · French

petit · rank #171 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #171
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,826
  • PHOTO-FINISH pendant

Nearest frequency peer: pendant (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “petit”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “petit” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

petit vs pit
60% similar
petit vs pti
60% similar
petit vs PTT
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for petit
PropertyValue
Headwordpetit
LanguageFrench
Part of speechAdjective
IPA\pə.ti\
Letters5
Frequency rank#171
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “petit” se place dans la fréquence du français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.petitse place ici:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « pendant » (#170), « puis » (#172), « mieux » (#169). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around petit (IPA \pə.ti\), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #171 among 6,826 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for petit, with forms such as "eptit", "peitt", and "petitt". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pit", "pti", "PTT", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is petit, spelled P-E-T-I-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    De taille réduite.
  2. 2
    Jeune.
  3. 3
    Mesquin ; médiocre.
  4. 4
    Qui est peu élevé en quantité, qui n’atteint pas la mesure ordinaire.
  5. 5
    En raccourci, en miniature.
  6. 6
    Marque d’affection.
  7. 7
    Marque de rabaissement.
  8. 8
    Négligeable, dont on peut s’abstenir de tenir compte dans les calculs sans qu'ils soient significativement altérés.
  9. 9
    Appel adressé à un jeune garçon.
  10. 10
    Appel répété lancé aux volailles d'une basse-cour pour les rassembler.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how petit appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Un petit caillou.
  2. C’est un homme de petite taille.

Synonyms

brefcourtexigufaiblemédiocreminimeminusculemodestepas plus grand que la mainrase-mottesréduitbasmesquinmineurpiètre

Antonyms

abondantamplecolossalconsidérablecopieuxétendugéantgigantesquegrandgrandiosegrosimmenseimportantlargelongnombreuxadulteâgévieuxgénéreuxgrandgrandiosemagnifiquenoble

This word in other languages

small(English)pequeño(Español)klein(Deutsch)pequeno(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • eptit
  • peitt
  • petitt
  • petti
  • pettit
  • ppetit
  • pteit

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of petit - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

eptit2peitt2petitt1petti2pettit1ppetit1pteit2
Edit distance from "petit"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "petit"?
"petit" is spelled P-E-T-I-T. The IPA pronunciation is \pə.ti\.
What does "petit" mean?
As an adjective, "petit" means: De taille réduite.
What words are commonly confused with "petit"?
"petit" is commonly confused with "pit", "pti", "PTT". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "petit"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "petit" is \pə.ti\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "petit" come from?
"petit" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "petit", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

année#173mieux#169bonne#167elles#176

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

place7 variantspartie7 variantsjours7 variantschose7 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "petit". Here's where to go from here.

  • "petit" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "pit". View pair
  • 7 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #171 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "P" letter cohort. P–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list