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pet

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Pet, an animal kept for company, and pet, a fit of sulking, are probably different words, both of uncertain origin.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

pet1 animal

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.[3][1] It began as a Scottish and northern English word, and Hoad and Word Origins derive it from Gaelic, comparing Scottish Gaelic and Irish peata “tame animal”.[2][5][3] Barnhart and MWU suggest a connection with petty, Middle English pety “small”.[1][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

An indulged child: 1508 in the OED, MWU and Barnhart.[7][6][1] An animal kept as a favourite is from 1539, perhaps the primary sense, and in early use it was typically a lamb reared by hand.[7][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The word was used only in Scotland and the north of England until the mid-18th century,[3][5] when it spread south to any animal kept for company.[5] A favourite person is from 1755,[7] and a term of endearment from 1849.[7] The adjective, kept as a pet, is from 1584,[7][6] and pet of a thing, favourite, as in pet project, from 1826.[7] The verb, to treat as a pet, is from 1629,[7][1] to stroke from 1818,[1][3] and the slang “to kiss and caress” from 1920.[3]

Timeline

  • 1508 – an indulged child.[7]
  • 1539 – a pet animal.[7]
  • 1584 – adjective.[7]
  • 1629 – verb, to indulge.[7]
  • 1818 – to stroke.[1]
  • 1920 – to kiss and caress.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. An animal kept at home for company or pleasure.
  2. A person treated as a favourite.
  3. (British, informal) A term of affection.

Adjective

  1. Kept as a pet: a pet rabbit.
  2. Specially liked or cared about: a pet subject.

Verb

  1. To stroke an animal or person gently.
  2. (informal) To kiss and touch sexually.

pet2 sulk

Etymology

It is of unknown origin.[2][6][1] It may be from pet “indulged child”, as the sulking of a spoiled child,[3] but the OED notes that it seems to have been a southern English word, while the other pet was northern.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Offence at being slighted, in the phrase take the pet: 1590 in the OED and Barnhart, the 1580s in Etymonline.[7][1][3]

Semantic evolution

In a pet is from 1647.[1] Pettish, peevish, is from the 16th century.[2]

Timeline

  • 1590 – take the pet.[7][1]
  • 1647 – in a pet.[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A fit of bad temper or sulking.
  • petty
  • pettish

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  2. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press