petit four

UK/ˈpɛti ˈfɔɹ/

noun

A small cake generally eaten at the end of a meal or served as part of a large buffet.

OriginFrench petit four →
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Meanings

nounpetit four (plural petits fours or petit fours)

plural petits fours · plural petit fours · alternative petit-four

  1. A small cake generally eaten at the end of a meal or served as part of a large buffet.

Origin

  1. Frenchpetit four
  2. Englishpetit four

Unadapted borrowing from French petit four (literally “small oven”).

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish pikkumakea, petit four
  • pikkumakeasmall cake at the end of a meal
  • petit foursmall cake at the end of a meal
French petit four
  • petit foursmall cake at the end of a meal
Greek πτιφούρ
  • πτιφούρ (ptifoúr)small cake at the end of a meal
Italian pasticcini
  • pasticcinismall cake at the end of a meal
Polish ptifurki
  • ptifurkismall cake at the end of a meal
Russian птифу́р, пиро́жное
  • птифу́р (ptifúr)small cake at the end of a meal
  • пиро́жное (piróžnoje)small cake at the end of a meal
Cite this entry
APA

petit four. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petit%20four

MLA

“petit four.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petit%20four. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “petit four,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/petit%20four.

Source: petit four on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.