petitioner

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English peticioner,^[2][3] which the revised OED takes as borrowed from Old French petitioner, the Anglo-Norman form, recorded in legal use from 1399 or before,^[4][5] formed from petition and the suffix -er.^[4] Merriam-Webster, the Middle English Dictionary and Etymonline instead derive it within English from the noun petition with -er.^[3][2][6] The OED and the Middle English Dictionary compare Medieval Latin petītiōnārius (“a petitioner”),^[4][2][7] and the Shorter Oxford adds that the word was later felt to come from the verb petition.^[7] The noun petition itself comes from Old French peticion and, directly, Latin petītiō (“a request; a claim at law”),^[4][6] a noun of action from petō (“to make for, seek, ask for”), from Proto-Indo-European *pet- (“to rush, to fly”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who presents a formal petition: in 1414, in the Rolls of Parliament, where the Commons call themselves both assenters and Peticioners.^[4][2] Etymonline dates it to the early 15th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word began in parliamentary and legal petitions to the king,^[4][2] and about 1425 it was also used of anyone asking a favour.^[2][6] In law it came to mean the plaintiff in a suit begun by petition, especially a creditor, from 1503,^[4] and in British usage chiefly the person who sues for a divorce.^[8] In 1680 the Petitioners were those who signed an address to Charles II asking him to summon Parliament;^[4][3] Merriam-Webster compares abhorrer.^[3] Johnson (1755) defined it simply as one who offers a petition, quoting Bacon.^[9]

Timeline

• 1414 – a person who presents a formal petition.^[4][2]
• c. 1425 – a supplicant for a favour.^[2]
• 1503 – in law, a plaintiff, especially a creditor, petitioning in a suit.^[4]
• 1681 – the signers of the address to Charles II in 1680 (now historical).^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who makes or presents a petition: The petitioners handed the mayor four thousand signatures.^[8][3][4]
2. (law) A party who presents a petition to a court, especially when seeking relief on appeal.^[10][4]
3. (chiefly Brit) The plaintiff in a divorce suit.^[8]
4. (historical) One of those who signed the petitions to Charles II in 1679–1680 for the summoning of Parliament.^[3][4]

Related words

• petition
• appetite
• compete
• repeat
• impetus

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West