Etymology

petition

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Today it means: A formal written request made by an individual or a group of people to a sovereign or political authority, often containing many signatures, soliciting some grace, right, mercy, or the redress of some wrong or grievance. Full definition →

First used early 15th c.Old French peticiun ← Latin petitio, petitionem
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The story

  1. Latin · derived frompetitio, petitionem“a request, solicitation”
  2. Old French · derived frompeticiun
  3. English todaypetition

From Middle English, borrowed from Old French peticiun, from stem of Latin petitio, petitionem (“a request, solicitation”), from petere (“to require, seek, go forward”).

First known use, by meaning

  • from early 15th c. A formal written request made by an individual or a group of people to a sovereign or political authority, often containing many signatures, soliciting some grace, right, mercy, or the redress of some wrong or grievance.
  • from 1730s A formal written application made to a magistrate or court for an order or a suit for divorce.
  • from c. 1330 A prayer or supplication, especially of which is formal or humble and made to a deity, a sovereign, or an authority.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.