Wordwyrt

pettiness

/ˈpetinəs/PEH-tee-nuhs
UK form converted from the US by rule · unchecked
/ˈpɛtinəs/PEH-tee-nuhs

Meaningthe quality of being petty

Common meaning: small-mindedness

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Journey through time

  1. Welshpid‘a tapering point’source
  2. Frenchpetit‘little, small’source
  3. Middle Englishpetitsource
  4. Englishpetty‘small, trivial’
  5. Englishformed in English from pettypettiness‘small-mindedness’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from petty + -ness.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), PETTY, p.438 · scan

Source words

  • pid Welsh · source word “a small point”

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