Defn: Supported by its own petiolule. Gray.
PETIOLULE
Pet"i*o*lule, n. Etym: [Cf. F. pétiolule.] (Bot.)
Defn: A small petiole, or the petiole of a leaflet.
PETIT
Pet"it, a. Etym: [F. See Petty.]
Defn: Small; little; insignificant; mean; — Same as Petty. [Obs., except in legal language.] By what small, petit hints does the mind catch hold of and recover a vanishing notion. South. Petit constable, an inferior civil officer, subordinate to the high constable. — Petit jury, a jury of twelve men, impaneled to try causes at the bar of a court; — so called in distinction from the grand jury. — Petit larceny, the stealing of goods of, or under, a certain specified small value; — opposed to grand larceny. The distinction is abolished in England. — Petit maître (. Etym: [F., lit., little master.] A fop; a coxcomb; a ladies' man. Goldsmith. — Petit serjeanty (Eng. Law), the tenure of lands of the crown, by the service of rendering annually some implement of war, as a bow, an arrow, a sword, a flag, etc. — Petit treason, formerly, in England, the crime of killing a person to whom the offender owed duty or subjection, as one's husband, master, mistress, etc. The crime is now not distinguished from murder.
PETITE
Pe*tite", a. [F., fem. of petit.]
Defn: Small, little; of a woman or girl, of small size and trim figure.
PETITION Pe*ti"tion, n. Etym: [F. pétition, L. petitio, fr. petere, petitum, to beg, ask, seek; perh. akin to E. feather, or find.]
1. A prayer; a supplication; an imploration; an entreaty; especially, a request of a solemn or formal kind; a prayer to the Supreme Being, or to a person of superior power, rank, or authority; also, a single clause in such a prayer. A house of prayer and petition for thy people. 1 Macc. vii. 37. This last petition heard of all her prayer. Dryden.
2. A formal written request addressed to an official person, or to an organized body, having power to grant it; specifically (Law), a supplication to government, in either of its branches, for the granting of a particular grace or right; — in distinction from a memorial, which calls certain facts to mind; also, the written document. Petition of right (Law), a petition to obtain possession or restitution of property, either real or personal, from the Crown, which suggests such a title as controverts the title of the Crown, grounded on facts disclosed in the petition itself. Mozley & W. — The Petition of Right (Eng. Hist.), the parliamentary declaration of the rights of the people, assented to by Charles I.