petit

petit mid-14c., "trifling," from O.Fr. petit "small" (11c.), probably from stem of L.L. pitinnus "small," of uncertain origin; it corresponds to no known Latin form and perhaps is from a Celtic root pett- "part, piece, bit" also found in It. pezza, Eng. PIECE (Cf. piece). Attested as a surname from 1086. Replaced by PETTY (Cf. petty) in most usages, except in established forms such as petit bourgeois "conventional middle-class" (1853, used by Charlotte Brontë earlier than by Marx or Engels; petty bourgeois, however, is attested from 1850), petit mal (1842, "little evil," mild form of epilepsy), and petit four (1884), which in French means "little oven," from O.Fr. four "oven," from L. furnus.