petiole 
cylindrical and channeled on the upper side, but may be 
terete, flattened, winged, dilated at base, clasping, etc. 
2. In entom., the slender sclerite or sclerites 
by which the abdomen of many insects is united 
to the thorax. It is prominent in many Hymenoptera, 
as the slender part of a wasp; it is usually one-jointed, 
but sometimes two-jointed, and rarely three-jointed. In 
certain ants it carries one or more swellings which are 
important in classification. See cuts under Evaniidie and 
Atta. 
petioled (pet'i-old), a. l<petiole + -ea 2 .] Same 
as petiolate. 
petiolulate (pet'i-o-lu-lat), a. [< NL. "petiolu- 
/<itiix,<*petiolulus,'petioliile: see petiolule.] In 
bot., supported by its own petiolule or foot- 
stalk : applied to a leaflet. 
petiolule (pet'i-o-lul), n. [< F. petiolule, < NL. 
"petiolulus, dim.'otpetioltis, petiole: see petiole.] 
In bot., a little or partial petiole, such as belong 
to the leaflets of compound leaves. 
petiolus (pe-ti'o-lus), n. ; pi. petioli (-Ii). [NL., 
< L. petiolus, a stem or stalk of fruit : see peti- 
ole.] In bot. and zodl., a petiole Petiolus of 
the epiglottis, the narrow attached end of the epiglottis. 
petit (pet'i), a. and n. [< ]H.petit, < OF. petit, 
F. petit, small, petty: see petty. The spelling 
petit, with the pronunciation belonging to petty, 
is retainedin various legal phrases.] I. a. Small; 
petty ; inferior. petit constable. See petty con- 
stable, under constable, 2. Petit j ury, treason, etc. See 
the nouns. Petit point. Same as tent-stitch. 
II. t ** Same as petty. 
And therefore was their master Moises called Pedagog- 
us, yt is, a teacher of children, or (as they cal such one 
in ye Gramer scholes) an Usher or a Master of the petite*. 
Sir T. More, Cumfort against Tribulation (1573), f ol. 4& 
petit-baume (pet'i-bom), n. [F., < petit, little. 
+ bourne, balsam: see balm.] A liquor obtained 
in the West Indies from Croton balsamifer. 
petite (pe-tef), a. [F.,fem. of petit: see petit, 
petty.] Little; of small size ; tiny. 
Petitia (pe-tish'i-a), n. [NL. (Jacquin, 1780), 
after Francois P. d'u Petit (1664-1741), a French 
surgeon.] A genus of gamopetalous shrubs and 
trees of the order Verbenacex and tribe Viticex, 
characterized by the four equal petals, nearly 
sessile anthers, and drupe with one stone con- 
taining four cells and four seeds. The 8 species 
are natives of the West Indies and Mexico. They bear 
opposite undivided leaves, and small flowers in cymes 
usually panicled in the upper axils. P. Domingensis is 
the yellow fiddlewood of the West Indies. See spur-tree. 
petition (pe-tish'on), . [< ME. peticion, peti- 
tion, < OF. petition, F. petition = Sp. peticion = 
Pg. petifao = It. petizione, a petition, < L. peti- 
tio(n-), a blow, thrust, an attack, an arming at a 
request, petition, solicitation, (.petere, pp.peti- 
tus, fall upon, rush at, attack, assault, etc., di- 
rect one's course to, seek, make for, strive for, 
require, demand, ask, solicit, fetch, betake one- 
self to, etc., =Gr. ftivTeiv, fall, versadai, fly, akin 
to KTcp6v, wing, feather, etc., Skt. \f pat, fly: 
eeefeatlter, pen' 2 , etc. From the L. petere are 
also ult. E. appete, appetent, appetite, compete, 
competent, competitor, etc., impetus, impetuous, 
petulant, etc., repeat, repetition, etc.] 1. An 
entreaty, supplication, or prayer ; a solemn or 
formal supplication, as one addressed to the 
Supreme Being, or to a superior in rank or 
power; also, a particular request or article 
among several in a prayer. 
Thy peticion I graunt the. 
Lytell Geste of Kobyn Hade (Child's Ballads, V. 116). 
Let my life be given me at ray petition, and my people at 
my request. Esther vii. 3. 
I will go and sit beside the doors, 
And make a wild petition night and day. 
Tennyson, Princess, v. 
2. A formal written request or supplication; 
particularly, a written supplication from an in- 
ferior to a superior, or to a legislative or other 
body, soliciting some favor, right, grant, or 
mercy. 
The governour and assistants sent an answer to the 
petition of Sir Christopher Gardiner, and withal a certifi- 
cate from the old planters concerning the carriage of 
affairs. Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 126. 
I remember, when the Duke of Newcastle was going to 
Windsor with a mob at his heels to present a petition (dur- 
ing the late discussions), I went down to him and showed 
him the petition, and told him they ought to be prevented 
from comiug. Greaille, Memoirs, July 10, 1829. 
3. In law, a written application for an order 
of court, used (a) where a suit is already pend- 
ing in respect to the subject of which some re- 
lief is sought that renders proper a more for- 
mal application than a motion (as a petition for 
instructions to a receiver), or (b) where thesub- 
ject is within the jurisdiction of the court with- 
out the bringing of an action (as a petition for 
the writ of habeas corpus, or for an adjudication 
4426 
in bankruptcy); also, the paper containing such 
a supplication, solicitation, or humble request. 
4. A begging: only in the rare phrase 'pe- 
tition of a principle' (begging the question), 
translating Latin petitio principii. 
Diogenes. Stay ! Those terms are puerile, and imply a 
petition of a principle : keep to the term necessity. 
Landor, Imaginary Conversations, 1st ser., vii. 
Millenary petition. See millenary. Petition of right. 
(a) In Eng. law, a petition for obtaining possession or res- 
titution from the crown of either real or personal proper- 
ty, the petition stating facts and claiming a right which 
controverts the title of the crown. (6) A declaration of 
the rights of the people addressed by Parliament In 1628 
to King Charles I., and his assent to it, which, though not 
in form a statute or ordinance, has been accepted as hav- 
ing the full force and effect of fundamental law. It re- 
cited, In substance, that subjects should not be taxed but 
by consent of Parliament ; that commissions for raising 
money should not be issued contrary to law ; that no free- 
man should be imprisoned, disseized of his land, outlawed, 
or exiled but by the judgment of his peers or the law of 
the land ; that no subject ought to be imprisoned without 
cause shown ; that citizens should not be compelled to en- 
tertain soldiers against the law ; and that commissions for 
the trial of offenders by martial law ought not to issue in 
time of peace. Petitions of Rights Act. See Bovill's 
Act (a), under act. Right of petition, the right of the 
governed to bring grievances to the knowledge of the gov- 
erning power, by the presentation and hearing of petitions 
for redress. By the First Amendment to the Constitution 
of the United States, Congress can make no law prohibit- 
ing "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and 
to petition the government for a redress of grievances." 
= Syn. Supplication, Suit, etc. (see prayer), solicitation, ap- 
plication, address. 
petition (pe-tish'on), v. [=:F.p6titionner; from 
the noun.] I. trans. 1. To present a petition 
or make a request to ; supplicate ; entreat ; 
specifically, to address a written or printed pe- 
tition or supplication to, as to a sovereign, le- 
gislative body, or person in authority, for some 
favor or right. 
She petitioned Jupiter that he might prove Immortal. 
Bacon, Moral Fables, ii. 
2. To solicit; ask for; desire as a favor. 
Would not your word, your slightest wish, effect 
All that I hope, petition, or expect? 
Crabbe, Works, V. 188. 
II. intrans. To intercede; make a humble 
request or entreaty ; present a petition. 
You think now I should cry, and kneel down to you, 
Petition for my peace. 
Fletcher, Humorous Lieutenant, iv. 8. 
petitionarily (pe-tish'on-a-ri-li), adv. Byway 
of petitio principii, or begging the question. 
Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., iv. 5. [Bare.] 
petitionary (pe-tish'on-a-ri), a. [< petition + 
-an/.] 1. Offering a petition ; supplicatory. 
Pardon Rome and thy petitionary countrymen. 
Shak., Cor., v. 2. 82. 
It is our base petitionary breath 
That blows them to this greatness. 
B. Jonson, Catiline, iv. 1. 
2. Containing a petition or request. 
If such come 
For their reliefe by suite petitionary, 
Let them have gracious hearing. 
Heywood, Eoyal King and Loyal Subject, 1. 
petition-crown (pe-tish'on-kroun), n. See 
crown, 13. 
petitioner (pe-tish'on -er), n. [(petition + -erl.] 
1. One who presents a petition, either verbal 
or written. 
Heare the Cries, see the Tears, 
Of all distressed poor Petitioners. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Magnificence. 
2. [i.e. or cop.] In Eng. hist, same as addresser. 
petitionist (pe-tish'on-ist), . [< petition + 
-ist.] A petitioner. Lamb. (Encyc. Diet.) 
petitio principii (pe-tish'i-6 prin-sip'i-i). [L. 
(tr. Gr. TO cv apxv a'tTeioBat, an assumption at 
the outset): petitio, petition; principii, gen. of 
principium, principle : see petition and princi- 
ple.'] In logic, the assumption of that which 
in the beginning was set forth to be proved; 
begging the question: a fallacy or fault of 
reasoning belonging to argumentations whose 
conclusions really follow from their premises, 
either necessarily or with the degree of prob- 
ability pretended, the fault consisting in the 
assumption of a premise which no person hold- 
ing the antagonistic views will admit. 
petit-maJtre (pe-te'ma'tr), . [P., a little mas- 
ter: see petty and master*.] A name given to 
dandies in France in the reigns of Louis XIV. 
and Louis XV.; hence, in English literature, 
one who displays exaggeration in his dress 
and cultivates female society more or less ob- 
trusively ; a fop ; a coxcomb, 
petitort (pet'i-tor), n. [< L. petitor, a seeker, 
plaintiff, < petere, pp. petitus, seek : see peti- 
tion.] A seeker. 
petrel 
A very potent (I cannot say "competitor," the Bishop 
himself being never upetitorfoT the place, but) "desirer" 
of this office was frustrated in his almost assured expecta- 
tion of the same to himself. Fuller, Ch. Hist, XI. ii. 48. 
, . petitor, , . 
Petitioning; soliciting; begging; petitionary. 
The proper voices of sickness are expressly vocal and 
petitory in the ears of God. 
Jer. Taylor, Holy Dying, iii. 2. 
Petitory action or suit, (a) An action claiming title 
or right of ownership, as distinguished from one which, 
ostensibly at least, relates merely to possession. (6) In 
Scots law, au action by which something is sought to be 
decreed by the judge in consequence of a right of property 
or a right of credit in the pursuer, including all actions 
on personal contracts by which the grantor has become 
bound to pay or to perform. 
Petit' s operation. See operation. 
Petiveria (pet-i-ve'ri-a), n. [NL. (Plumier, 
1703), named after J.'Petiver, F. R. S., a London 
apothecary, who died in 1718.] A genus, made 
by Lindley type of a small order Petiveriacex, 
now classed in the order Pliytolaccacese and tribe 
Rivinex, characterized by the elongated fruit, 
covered with slender recurved spines. The 4 
species are all American, found from Florida to southern 
Brazil. They are slender erect herbs, with the odor of 
garlic, very acrid, and bearing alternate ovate leaves, and 
small greenish flowers of four persistent sepals. P. alli- 
acea, the guinea-hen weed, also known as stronyman's- 
weed, is much used in the West Indies for toothache and 
for its stimulating and sudorific properties. P. tetrandra 
is similarly used in Brazil. 
petlanque (pet-lang'ke), n. [Mex. Sp.] The 
name of an ore of silver, called in Chili "rosi- 
cler oscuro"; a sulphantimoniuret of silver, 
known to mineralogists as pyrargyrite pet- 
lanque negro, the ore of silver called silver-glance, glas- 
en, and vitreous silver, of which the mineralogical name 
is arffentite. 
peto (pe'to), n. [Imitative.] The tufted tit- 
mouse of the United States, Parus or Lopho- 
plianes bicolor. T. Nuttall, 
petralogy, n. An erroneous form of petrology. 
Petrarcnism (pe'trar-kizm), n. [< Petrarch (see 
def . ) + -ism.] The style or manner of the poet 
Petrarch (1304-74); the peculiarities of his 
poetry collectively. 
From this period [the fourteenth century] also dates that 
literary phenomenon known under the name of Petrarch- 
ism. Encyc. Brit., XIII. 606. 
Petrarchist (pe'trar-kist), . [< Petrarch + 
-ist.] A disciple, follower, or imitator of Pe- 
trarch. Encyc. Brit., XIII. 506. 
petraria (pe-tra'ri-a), n. [ML. : see petrary.] 
Same as petrary. 
The archers shot their arrows, the petraria hurled its 
stones. E. A. Freeman, Norman Conquest, III. 113. 
petrary (pe-tra'ri), n. ; pi. petraries (-riz). [In 
older form perrier, < OF.perriere, etc. (aeeper- 
rier, and cf . pederero, etc.); = Sp. petraria, < 
ML. petraria, a machine for throwing stones, 
< ~L.petra, a rock : see pier.] A military engine 
for throwing large stones. 
petret (pe'ter), n. [An abbr. of saltpetre, salt- 
peter.] Niter; saltpeter. 
Powder which Is made of impure and greasy petre hath 
but a weak emission. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., ii. 6. 
Petrea (pe'tre-ii), n. [NL. (Houstoun, 1737), 
named after Robert James, Lord Petre, a patron 
of botany, who died in 1742.] A genus of twin- 
ing shrubs of the order Verbenacete and tribe 
Verbenese, characterized by racemed flowers, 
the ovary of two cells, each wjth one ovule, 
and the calyx greatly enlarged in fruit. The 20 
species are all American, found from the West Indies and 
Mexico to Brazil and Bolivia. They bear opposite rigid 
undivided leaves, and large violet or bine flowers in long 
racemes, with the large sepals beautifully colored at 
flowering, enlarging and turning green in fruit. Several 
species are favorites in cultivation underglass, especially 
A volubilis, the purple wreath, which is a native of the 
West India islands and of the mainland from Vera Cruz 
southward. 
petrean (pe-tre'an), a. [Cf. F. petree = Sp. 
pttreo = Pg. U.petreo; < L. petreeus, < Gr. m- 
rpalof, rocky, < irerpa, rock: see pier.] Of or 
pertaining to rock or stone. Faber. [Rare.] 
petrel 1 (pet'rel), n. [Formerly also peterel ; < F. 
petrel, a petrel, lit. 'little Peter,' ' Peterkin' (G. 
Petersvogel, 'Peter's bird'), so called because it 
seems to walk on the sea, like Peter (Mat. xiv. 
29), < ML. *Petrellus, dim. of LL. Petrus, Peter, 
< Gr. IlfT/jof, Peter, lit. 'rock' (see Mat. xvi. 18): 
see pier.] 1. A small black-and-white sea- 
bird, Procellaria pelagica ; hence, any similar 
bird of pelagic or oceanic habits, with webbed 
feet, long pointed wings, and tubular nostrils. 
belonging to the family Procellariidse and sub- 
family Procellariinse. Many of the petrels are char- 
acterized by qualifying epithets, and others receive spe- 
cial names. The stormy petrels, also called Mother Carey's 
