Etymology

pet

P3E1T1

Today it means: An animal kept as a companion or otherwise for pleasure, rather than for some practical benefit or use. Full definition →

Scots pet ← Scottish Gaelic peata ← Middle Irish petta
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pet · noun, verb, adjective1

  1. substrate · derived from
  2. Middle Irish · derived frompetta
  3. Scottish Gaelic · derived frompeata“pet, tamed animal, spoiled child”
  4. Scots · borrowed frompet“an animal that has been tamed and is kept as a pet; a darling or favourite; a petted or spoiled child”
  5. English todaypet

Originally northern dialectal, from Scots pet (“an animal that has been tamed and is kept as a pet; a darling or favourite; a petted or spoiled child”), probably from Scottish Gaelic peata (“pet, tamed animal, spoiled child”), from Middle Irish petta, peta (“pet, lap-dog”), of uncertain origin, possibly from a pre-Indo-European substrate. Compare also peat (“pet, darling, woman”), which is likely not related. The verb is derived from the noun.

pet · noun, verb2

Clipping of petulance.

pet · noun3

Clipping of petition.

pet · noun4

Clipping of petal.

PET · noun, proper noun5

The name of the computer (noun sense 4) derives from the 1970s pet rock fad; the acronym was invented afterwards.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.