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pet

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Appendix:Variations of "pet"

English

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /pɛt/, [pʰɛt], [pʰɛʔ], [pʰɛʔt]
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛt

Etymology 1

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Originally northern dialectal, from Scots pet (“an animal that has been tamed and is kept as a pet; a darling or favourite; a petted or spoiled child”), probably from Scottish Gaelic peata (“pet, tamed animal, spoiled child”), from Middle Irish petta, peta (“pet, lap-dog”), of uncertain origin, possibly from a pre-Indo-European substrate.[1] Compare also peat (“pet, darling, woman”), which is likely not related.

The verb is derived from the noun.

Noun

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
Picture dictionary
petpet
pet
canary
cat
dog
goldfish
guinea pig
hamster
parakeet
parrot
pig

pet (plural pets)

  1. An animal kept as a companion or otherwise for pleasure, rather than for some practical benefit or use.
    family pet, pet cat, pet dog, pet store
    My dog Fido has been a loyal pet for ten years.
  2. (by extension) Something kept as a companion, including inanimate objects.
    pet plant, pet rock
    • 2015 September 15, Toby Fox, Undertale, Linux, Microsoft Windows, OS X:
      Papyrus: This is my brother's pet rock. He always forgets to feed it. As usual, I have to take responsibility.
  3. One who is excessively loyal to a superior and receives preferential treatment.
  4. Any person or animal especially cherished and indulged; a darling.
    • 1847 December, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], chapter XIX, in Wuthering Heights: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], →OCLC:
      At first she sat silent; but that could not last: she had resolved to make a pet of her little cousin, as she would have him to be; and she commenced stroking his curls, and kissing his cheek, and offering him tea in her saucer, like a baby.
    • 1711 January 1 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [et al., pseudonyms; Richard Steele et al.], “Thursday, December 21, 1710”, in The Tatler, number 266; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume III, London: I. Walker and Co.;  […], 1822, →OCLC:
      the love of cronies, pets, and favourites
      The spelling has been modernized.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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pet (third-person singular simple present pets, present participle petting, simple past pet or (childish) petted, past participle petted or pet)

A woman is petting this calf.
  1. (transitive) To stroke or fondle (an animal).
    I really love to pet cute puppies.
  2. (transitive, intransitive, informal) To stroke or fondle (another person) amorously.
    We started petting each other the moment we were alone.
    • 1973 September 18, Lou Sullivan, Diary:
      So we kissed + petted for about 15 mins. + he still wasn't hard, altho he acted like he was enjoying himself.
  3. (dated, transitive) To keep or treat (an animal) as a pet.
    • 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 140:
      Deer are often tamed and petted, and their flesh is so much esteemed by all Malays, that it is very natural they should endeavour to introduce them into the remote islands in which they settled, and whose luxuriant forests seem so well adapted for their subsistence.
  4. (dated, transitive) To treat (someone) as a pet; to fondle; to indulge.
    His daughter was petted and spoiled.
    • 1919 August, P. G. Wodehouse, “Prohibition and the Drama”, in Vanity Fair, page 21:
      […] the American dramatist has had to waste most of his first act elaborately planting the information that his Mister Quex is rich, petted by Society, and altogether more spectacular than the common run of men.
  5. (archaic, intransitive) To be a pet.
  6. (archaic, intransitive) To be peevish; to sulk.
    • 1623, Owen Feltham, Resolves: Divine, Moral, Political:
      He sure is queasie stomach't that must pet, and puke, at such a trivial circumstance
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Adjective

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pet (not comparable)

  2. (figurative) Favourite; cherished; the focus of one's (usually positive) attention.
    a pet project
    a pet child
    The professor seemed offended by the criticism of her pet theory.
    • 1886, Frederic Harrison, The Choice of Books:
      Some young lady's pet curate.
    • 1875, William Conant Church, The Galaxy, page 141:
      Major Butler has a pet grievance and a pet aversion, which he forces on the reader in every chapter, and which becomes at last very wearisome.
    • 1991, Deborah G. Douglas, United States Women in Aviation, 1940-1985, page 9:
      In an interview with Flying magazine, Heberding commented that her pet annoyance was "the reluctance of people generally to accept a woman whether as a pilot or a preflight inspector."
    • 2002 August 2, Geoffrey Macnab, “'The rape had to be disgusting to be useful'”, in The Guardian‎[2], →ISSN:
      Discussing a favourite book, JW Dunne's An Experiment with Time—a 1927 study by an English aeronautical engineer who developed his own pet theories about dreams, perception and reality—he [Gaspar Noé] sounds like an earnest young philosophy student.
    • 2025 July 5, Philip Stafford, Akila Quinio, “Stablecoins begin to enter the mainstream with backing from Trump administration”, in FT Weekend, London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 11:
      But these digital currencies […] have now become a pet project of the US administration and a hot topic in corporate boardrooms.
  3. (literally) Kept or treated as a pet.
    pet rock
  4. (obsolete) Good; ideal.
Derived terms
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Translations
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References

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  1. ^ Schrijver, Peter (2000), “Non-Indo-European Surviving in Ireland in the First Millennium AD”, in Ériu‎[1], volume 51, →JSTOR, pages 195-199

Etymology 2

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Clipping of petulance.

Noun

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pet (plural pets)

  1. A fit of petulance, a sulk, arising from the impression that one has been offended or slighted.
    • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 3, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
      His genius at this time was of a decidedly gloomy cast. He brought his mother a tragedy, in which, though he killed sixteen people before the second act, it made her laugh so, that he thrust the masterpiece into the fire in a pet.
    • 1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska, published 2005, page 105:
      There was something ludicrous, even more, unbecoming a gentleman, in leaving a friend's house in a pet, with the host's reproaches sounding in his ears, to be matched only by the bitterness of the guest's sneering retorts.
    • 1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 1]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC:
      Buck Mulligan sat down in a sudden pet.

Verb

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pet (third-person singular simple present pets, present participle petting, simple past and past participle petted)

  1. To be petulant or upset; to have a problem with.
    • 2019, “Going Through It” (track 6), in Ignorance Is Bliss, performed by Skepta:
      Got suttin' in the glove compartment and I won't pet to use it

Etymology 3

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Clipping of petition.

Noun

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pet (plural pets)

  1. Abbreviation of petition.

Etymology 4

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Clipping of petal.

Noun

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pet (plural pets)

  1. (Ireland, Geordie) A term of endearment usually applied to women and children.

References

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See also

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Anagrams

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Ainu

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Noun

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pet (Kana spelling ペッ)

  1. river

Catalan

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Etymology

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    Inherited from Latin pēditum. Compare Occitan pet, French pet, Spanish pedo.

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    pet m (plural pets)

    1. (colloquial) fart

    Derived terms

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    See also

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    References

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    Chuukese

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    Etymology

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    Borrowed from English bed.

    Noun

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    pet

    1. bed
      • 2010, Ewe Kapasen God, United Bible Societies, →ISBN, Luke 5:24, page 110:
        Iwe upwe pwȧr ngeni kemi pwe mi wor an ewe Noun Aramas manamanen omusano tipis won fonufan. Iwe a apasa ngeni ewe mwan mi mwök, 'Upwe erenuk, kopwe uta, kopwe eki om na pet o feinno non imwom!"
        Therefore I will show you that the Son of Man has the power of forgiving sins on earth. So he said to the sick man, 'I tell you, stand, grab your bed and go to your house!"

    Dutch

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    Etymology

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    of uncertain origin, perhaps from french toupet[1]. earliest examples from 1806

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    pet m (plural petten, diminutive petje n)

    1. cap (headwear with a peak at the front)

    Derived terms

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    Descendants

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    • → Caribbean Javanese: pèt
    • → Indonesian: pet, peci (from the diminutive)
    • → Papiamentu: pèchi, petsje (from the diminutive)

    Adjective

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    pet (comparative petter, superlative petst)

    1. (slang) bad, crappy

    Declension

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    Declension of pet
    uninflected pet
    inflected pette
    comparative petter
    positive comparative superlative
    predicative/adverbial pet petter het petst
    het petste
    indefinite m./f. sing. pette pettere petste
    n. sing. pet petter petste
    plural pette pettere petste
    definite pette pettere petste
    partitive pets petters —

    Derived terms

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    References

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    1. ^ https://www.etymologiebank.nl/trefwoord/pet2

    French

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    Etymology 1

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      Inherited from Middle French pet, from Old French pet, from Latin pēditum.

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      pet m (plural pets)

      1. (colloquial) fart
        Synonym: vesse
      Derived terms
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      Etymology 2

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        See the main lemma.

        Pronunciation

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        Noun

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        pet m (plural pets)

        1. (colloquial, nonstandard) clipping of pétard

        Further reading

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        Friulian

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        Etymology

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        From Latin pectus.

        Noun

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        pet m (plural pets)

        1. (anatomy) chest

        See also

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        Indonesian

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        Etymology

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        From Dutch pet, probably from French toupet. Doublet of peci.

        Pronunciation

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        Noun

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        pèt (plural pet-pet)

        1. cap (headwear with a peak at the front)
          Hypernym: topi

        Further reading

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        Javanese

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        Romanization

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        pet

        1. romanization of ꦥꦼꦠ꧀

        Middle French

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        Etymology

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          Inherited from Old French pet, from Latin pēditum.

          Noun

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          pet m (plural pets)

          1. (vulgar) fart, gas, flatulence

          Descendants

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          References

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          • pet on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)

          Mizo

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          Etymology

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          From Proto-Kuki-Chin *pet (“to bite”).

          Verb

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          pet (stem II peh)

          1. to graze, eat, nibble
          2. to bite

          Occitan

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          Etymology

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          Inherited from Old Occitan pet, from Latin pēditum. Compare French pet, Catalan pet, Spanish pedo.

          Pronunciation

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          Noun

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          pet m (plural pets)

          1. fart
          2. explosion; detonation
          3. blow; hit; strike

          References

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          • "pet", in dicodòc: multidiccionari occitan (oc→fr)
          • Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana‎[3], L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2026, page 530

          Old French

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          Etymology

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            Inherited from Latin pēditum.

            Noun

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            pet oblique singular, m (oblique plural pez or petz, nominative singular pez or petz, nominative plural pet)

            1. fart

            Descendants

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            References

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            Old Occitan

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            Etymology

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            Inherited from Latin pēditum.

            Noun

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            pet m (oblique plural pets, nominative singular pets, nominative plural pet)

            1. fart

            Descendants

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            References

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            • “pet”, in Dictionnaire de l’occitan médiéval en ligne (in German and French), Munich: LMU, 2013–2026

            Polish

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            pety

            Etymology

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              (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

              Pronunciation

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              Noun

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              pet m inan (diminutive pecik)

              1. (colloquial) cigarette butt
                Synonyms: kiep, niedopałek, ogarek
              2. (colloquial, derogatory) cigarette
                Synonyms: cygareta, fajek, fajka, kiep, kopeć, papieros, szlug

              Declension

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              Declension of pet
              singular plural
              nominative pet pety
              genitive peta petów
              dative petowi petom
              accusative pet pety
              instrumental petem petami
              locative pecie petach
              vocative pecie pety

              Further reading

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              • “pet”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎[4] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
              • “pet”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[5] (in Polish)

              Portuguese

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              Etymology

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                Unadapted borrowing from English pet.

                Pronunciation

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                Noun

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                pet m (plural pets)

                1. (Brazil) pet (animal kept as a companion)
                  Synonyms: animal de estimação (much more common), mascote

                Derived terms

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                Further reading

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                • “pet”, in Dicio – Dicionário Online de Português (in Portuguese), São Paulo: 7Graus, 2009–2026

                Romansh

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                Alternative forms

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                Etymology

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                From Latin pectus.

                Noun

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                pet m (plural pets)

                1. (Puter, Vallader, anatomy) chest, thorax
                [edit]
                • (Rumantsch Grischun) sain
                • (Sursilvan) sein
                • (Sutsilvan, Surmiran) sagn

                Serbo-Croatian

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                Serbo-Croatian numbers (edit)
                50
                 ←  4 5 6  → 
                    Cardinal: pet
                    Ordinal: peti
                    Multiplier: petostruk
                    Collective: petoro, petorica
                    Fractional: petina

                Etymology

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                Inherited from Proto-Slavic *pętь.

                Pronunciation

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                Numeral

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                pȇt (Cyrillic spelling пе̑т)

                1. five (5)

                Usage notes

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                • Nouns following the numbers 5-20 are in genitive plural.
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                Slovene

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                Slovene numbers (edit)
                50
                 ←  4 5 6  → 
                    Cardinal: pet
                    Cardinal prefix: pet-
                    Ordinal: peti
                    Latinate ordinal: kvintaren
                    Ordinal prefix: peto-
                    Number: pet
                    Digit: petka
                    Digit place: petica
                    Adverbial: petič
                    Krat adverbial: petikrat
                    Multiplier: peteren
                    Krat multiplier: petkrat
                    Fixed multiplier: petkraten
                    Adverbial multiplier: peterno
                    Multiplier verb: popeteriti
                    Multiplier prefix: petern-
                    Krat multiplier prefix: petkratn-
                    Krat adverbial multiplier: petkratno
                    Collective: petero
                    Separable collective: peter
                    Greek or Latinate collective: pentada
                    Greek collective prefix: penta-
                    Latinate collective prefix: kvinkve-
                    Fractional: petina
                    Fractional multiplier: petinski
                    Elemental: peterica
                    Number of musicians: kvintet

                Etymology 1

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                From Proto-Slavic *pętь

                Pronunciation

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                Numeral

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                pẹ̑t

                1. five
                Declension
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                First declension (hard), fixed accent
                masculine, feminine and neuter following adjectives and nouns
                nom pl pẹ̑t + genitive
                plural
                masculine, feminine and neuter following adjectives and nouns
                nominative
                imenovȃlnik                 		pẹ̑t + genitive
                genitive
                rodȋlnik                 		pétih + genitive
                dative
                dajȃlnik                 		pétim + dative
                accusative
                tožȋlnik                 		pẹ̑t + genitive
                locative
                mẹ̑stnik                 		pétih + locative
                instrumental
                orọ̑dnik                 		pétimi + instrumental
                (vocative)
                (ogȏvorni imenovȃlnik)                 		pẹ̑t + circumflex genitive
                • less common
                Second declension (no endings), fixed accent
                masculine, feminine and neuter following adjectives and nouns
                nom pl pẹ̑t + genitive
                plural
                masculine, feminine and neuter following adjectives and nouns
                nominative
                imenovȃlnik                 		pẹ̑t + genitive
                genitive
                rodȋlnik                 		pẹ̑t + genitive
                dative
                dajȃlnik                 		pẹ̑t + dative
                accusative
                tožȋlnik                 		pẹ̑t + genitive
                locative
                mẹ̑stnik                 		pẹ̑t + locative
                instrumental
                orọ̑dnik                 		pẹ̑t + instrumental
                (vocative)
                (ogȏvorni imenovȃlnik)                 		pẹ̑t + circumflex genitive

                Noun

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                pẹ̑t n

                1. number five
                Declension
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                Third neuter declension (no endings) , fixed accent (singularia tantum)
                nom. sing. pẹ̑t
                gen. sing. pẹ̑t
                singular
                nominative
                imenovȃlnik                 		pẹ̑t
                genitive
                rodȋlnik                 		pẹ̑t
                dative
                dajȃlnik                 		pẹ̑t
                accusative
                tožȋlnik                 		pẹ̑t
                locative
                mẹ̑stnik                 		pẹ̑t
                instrumental
                orọ̑dnik                 		pẹ̑t
                (vocative)
                (ogȏvorni imenovȃlnik)                 		pẹ̑t

                To express dual and plural, the phrase število pet 'number five' is used, e.g. dve števili pet sta napisani, or, informally, also petka.


                Etymology 2

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                See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

                Pronunciation

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                Noun

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                pȇt

                1. genitive dual/plural of peta

                Further reading

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                • “pet”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
                • “pet”, in Termania, Amebis
                • See also the general references

                Tagalog

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                Etymology

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                  Borrowed from English pet.

                  Pronunciation

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                  Noun

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                  pet (Baybayin spelling ᜉᜒᜆ᜔)

                  1. pet (animal kept as a companion)
                    Synonym: alaga
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