Pet·it a.  Small; little; insignificant; mean; -- Same as Petty. [Obs., except in legal language.]
    By what small, petit hints does the mind catch hold of and recover a vanishing notion.   --South.
 Petit constable, an inferior civil officer, subordinate to the high constable.
 Petit jury, a jury of twelve men, impaneled to try causes at the bar of a court; -- so called in distinction from the grand jury.
 Petit larceny, the stealing of goods of, or under, a certain specified small value; -- opposed to grand larceny. The distinction is abolished in England.
 Petit maître [F., lit., little master.] A fop; a coxcomb; a ladies' man. --Goldsmith.
 Petit serjeanty Eng. Law, the tenure of lands of the crown, by the service of rendering annually some implement of war, as a bow, an arrow, a sword, a flag, etc.
 Petit treason, formerly, in England, the crime of killing a person to whom the offender owed duty or subjection, as one's husband, master, mistress, etc.  The crime is now not distinguished from murder.

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 Trea·son n.
 1. The offense of attempting to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance, or of betraying the state into the hands of a foreign power; disloyalty; treachery.
    The treason of the murthering in the bed.   --Chaucer.
 Note: ☞ In monarchies, the killing of the sovereign, or an attempt to take his life, is treason. In England, to imagine or compass the death of the king, or of the queen consort, or of the heir apparent to the crown, is high treason, as are many other offenses created by statute. In the United States, treason is confined to the actual levying of war against the United States, or to an adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.
 2. Loosely, the betrayal of any trust or confidence; treachery; perfidy.
    If he be false, she shall his treason see.   --Chaucer.
 Petit treason. See under Petit.

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