petty
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/pet"ee/, adj., pettier, pettiest.1. of little or no importance or consequence: petty grievances.2. of lesser or secondary importance, merit, etc.; minor: petty considerations.3. having or showing narrow ideas, interests, etc.: petty minds.4. mean or ungenerous in small or trifling things: a petty person.5. showing or caused by meanness of spirit: a petty revenge.6. of secondary rank, esp. in relation to others of the same class or kind: petty states; a petty tyrant.[1325-75; ME peti(t) small, minor < OF petit < Gallo-Romance *pittittus, of expressive orig.]Syn. 1. nugatory, negligible, inconsiderable, slight. PETTY, PALTRY, TRIFLING, TRIVIAL apply to something that is so insignificant as to be almost unworthy of notice. PETTY implies contemptible insignificance and littleness, inferiority and small worth: petty quarrels. PALTRY is applied to something that is beneath one's notice, even despicable: a paltry amount. Something that is TRIFLING is so unimportant and inconsiderable as to be practically negligible: a trifling error. Something that is TRIVIAL is slight, insignificant, and even in incongruous contrast to something that is significant or important: a trivial remark; a trivial task. 3. small. 4. stingy, miserly.Ant. 1. important. 4. generous.
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(as used in expressions)Petty RichardPetty Sir WilliamLansdowne Henry Charles Keith Petty Fitzmaurice 5th marquess of* * *
Universalium. 2010.
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Petty — can refer to one of the following People* Adam Petty (1980–2000), American race car driver and son of Kyle Petty * Bruce Petty (born 1929), Australian political satirist and cartoonist * Dini Petty (born 1945), Canadian television and radio host… … Wikipedia
Petty — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Adam Petty (1980–2000), US amerikanischer Rennfahrer Emily Petty Fitzmaurice, 8. Lady Nairne (1819–1895), britische Peeress George Petty (1894–1975), US amerikanischer Illustrator Henry Petty Fitzmaurice,… … Deutsch Wikipedia
PETTY (W.) — PETTY sir WILLIAM (1623 1687) Tour à tour marin, chirurgien, membre du Parlement, homme public et homme d’affaires, sir William Petty est surtout connu pour ses écrits économiques. L’ensemble de son œuvre permet de le situer comme l’un des plus… … Encyclopédie Universelle
Petty — Pet ty, a. [Compar. {Pettier}; superl. {Pettiest}.] [OE. petit, F. petit; probably of Celtic origin, and akin to E. piece. Cf. {Petit}.] Little; trifling; inconsiderable; also, inferior; subordinate; as, a petty fault; a petty prince. Denham.… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
petty — petty, puny, trivial, trifling, paltry, measly, picayunish, picayune mean little and insignificant, often contemptibly so. Something is petty which by comparison with other things the same in kind but different in size, importance, gravity, or… … New Dictionary of Synonyms
petty — pet·ty / pe tē/ adj: relatively minor in degree a petty offense punishable by not more than six months in prison compare grand Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam Webster. 1996 … Law dictionary
petty — late 14c., small, from O.Fr. petit small (see PETIT (Cf. petit)). In English, not originally disparaging (Cf. petty cash, 1834; petty officer, 1570s). Meaning of small importance is recorded from 1520s; that of small minded is from 1580s. An old… … Etymology dictionary
Petty — [ petɪ], Sir (seit 1662) William, britischer Volkswirtschaftler und Statistiker, * Romsey 26. 5. 1623, ✝ London 16. 12. 1687; ursprünglich Physiker und Arzt, später u. a. Sekretär O. Cromwells und Mitbegründer der Royal Society. Petty gilt als… … Universal-Lexikon
Petty — Petty, Sir William, engl. Volkswirt, geb. 26. Mai 1623 in Rompy bei London, seit 1652 Generalarzt der Armee von Irland, Mitbegründer der Royal Society, starb 16. Dez. 1687 in London; ein Vorgänger von Adam Smith, schrieb: »Treatise of taxes and… … Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon
Petty — PETTY, Inverness and Nairn. See Pettie … A Topographical dictionary of Scotland
petty — [adj] trivial, insignificant base, casual, cheap, contemptible, frivolous, inconsequent, inconsiderable, inessential, inferior, irrelevant, junior, lesser, light, little, lower, measly, minor, narrow minded, negligible, nickel and dime*,… … New thesaurus
