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Etymology and origin of the French word pet

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1179 Roman de Renart More words from the 12th century
Inherited from
Latin peditum via Old French
Ultimate origin
Latin pēdō
Derivations

Pronunciation

  • /pɛ/[1]
  • Quebec, informal: /pɛt/[1]

Forms

pet m (plural pets)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French pet, inherited from Latin pēditum (“fart”).[2][3][4][1][5] The Latin noun developed through Vulgar Latin *pedtum and *pettum.[3] It is a deverbal noun from pēdō (“to break wind”), a vulgar word of the satirists that is well represented in the Romance languages.[3] Rey connects the Latin with an Indo-European root *pezd-, beside the present *perd- seen in Ancient Greek πέρδομαι (pérdomai).[3][6] Littré noted that the ⟨r⟩ kept in Greek and in German Furz was lost in Latin.[6]

Cognate with Italian peto, Occitan pet, Catalan pet, Spanish pedo and Portuguese peido.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded about 1179 in the Roman de Renart, meaning a noisy escape of intestinal gas, a fart.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word soon expressed worthlessness: the Roman de Renart has je ne ti mesferai un pet (1205), and the idea came back in slang with ça ne vaut pas un pet (1887, Zola) and ça ne vaut pas un pet de lapin (1896).[2][3] By likeness it named a sharp, violent noise (1580), and later a row or fuss (1847).[2][3]

Tirer un pet d'un âne mort, of someone from whom nothing can be got, goes back to Rabelais (1564) and was recorded by Furetière in 1690;[3][2] on tirerait plutôt un pet d'un âne mort is from 1808.[2][7] Slang and popular French made much of the word: pet “danger, alert” (1844), faire le pet “to keep watch” among convicts (1850), the exclamation pet ! “watch out!” at the end of the 19th century, and filer comme un pet “to slip off quickly” (1901, Bruant).[3] Its verb péter (1380) replaced the Old French verb poire, from Latin pēdō.[4][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1179 – First record in the Roman de Renart.[2]
  • 1205 – Je ne ti mesferai un pet uses it of something worthless.[2][3]
  • 1380 – The verb péter is recorded.[4][3]
  • 1580 – Bernard Palissy uses it for a sharp report.[2]
  • 1611 – Cotgrave records pet de maçon.[7]
  • 1690 – Furetière records tirer aussitôt un pet d'un âne mort “to be very miserly”.[2]
  • 1795 – Pet-de-nonne, the fritter, is recorded.[4]
  • 1887 – Zola writes ça ne vaut pas un pet.[2]
  • 1896 – Delesalle records ça ne vaut pas un pet de lapin.[2][7]
  • 1901 – Bruant has filer comme un pet.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (familiar) A fart, intestinal gas let out noisily.[8][2]
  2. Avoir un pet de travers: to be in a bad mood, or slightly unwell.[8]
  3. Ça ne vaut pas un pet de lapin: it is worthless.[8][2]
  4. Comme un pet: very quickly: elle a filé comme un pet.[8][7]
  5. Pet-de-nonne: a light fritter, puffed with air inside.[6][4]

Word family

  • péter
  • pétard
  • péteux
  • pétiller
  • pet-de-nonne
  • pet-en-l'air
  • vesse
  • Latin pēditum

Usage notes

The slang pet “row, danger”, as in il va y avoir du pet (recorded 1835), is taken by the TLFi as a clipping of pétard, a separate word,[2] while Rey treats it as an extension of the sense “loud noise”.[3] In Quebec the word is also pronounced /pɛt/ informally.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 8, 131b
  6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pet.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/pet. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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