Definitions for: Petition


[n] a formal message requesting something that is submitted to an authority
[n] reverent petition to a deity
[v] write a petition for something to somebody; request formally and in writing



Webster (1913) Definition: Pe*ti"tion, n. [F. p['e]tition, L. petitio, fr.
petere, petitum, to beg, ask, seek; perh. akin to E. feather,
or find.]
1. A prayer; a supplication; an imploration; an entreaty;
especially, a request of a solemn or formal kind; a prayer
to the Supreme Being, or to a person of superior power,
rank, or authority; also, a single clause in such a
prayer.

A house of prayer and petition for thy people. --1
Macc. vii. 37.

This last petition heard of all her prayer.
--Dryden.

2. A formal written request addressed to an official person,
or to an organized body, having power to grant it;
specifically (Law), a supplication to government, in
either of its branches, for the granting of a particular
grace or right; -- in distinction from a memorial, which
calls certain facts to mind; also, the written document.

Petition of right (Law), a petition to obtain possession or
restitution of property, either real or personal, from the
Crown, which suggests such a title as controverts the
title of the Crown, grounded on facts disclosed in the
petition itself. --Mozley & W.

The Petition of Right (Eng. Hist.), the parliamentary
declaration of the rights of the people, assented to by
Charles I.


Pe*ti"tion, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Petitioned; p. pr.
& vb. n. Petitioning.]
To make a prayer or request to; to ask from; to solicit; to
entreat; especially, to make a formal written supplication,
or application to, as to any branch of the government; as, to
petition the court; to petition the governor.

You have . . . petitioned all the gods for my
prosperity. --Shak.


Pe*ti"tion, v. i.
To make a petition or solicitation.

Synonyms: orison, postulation, prayer, request

See Also: appeal, application, asking, benediction, bespeak, blessing, call for, collect, collection, commination, content, demand, deprecation, grace, ingathering, intercession, invocation, message, quest, request, requiescat, solicitation, subject matter, substance, supplicate, supplication, thanksgiving

Try our:
Scrabble Word Finder

Scrabble Cheat

Words With Friends Cheat

Hanging With Friends Cheat

Scramble With Friends Cheat

Ruzzle Cheat



Related Resources:
d letter animals
animals beginning with n
animals beginning with d