pet

Etymology 1

Attested since the 1500s in the sense "indulged child" and since the 1530s in the sense "animal companion". From Scots and dialectal Northern English, of unclear origin. Perhaps a back-formation of petty, pety (“little, small”), a term formerly used to describe children and animals (e.g. pet lambs). Alternatively, perhaps a borrowing of Scottish Gaelic peata, from Middle Irish petta, peta (“pet, lap-dog”), of uncertain (possibly pre-Indo-European substrate) origin. Compare peat (“pet, darling, woman”). The verb is derived from the noun.

noun

1. An animal kept as a companion.
2. (by extension) Something kept as a companion, including inanimate objects. (pet rock, pet plant, etc.)
3. One who is excessively loyal to a superior and receives preferential treatment.
4. Any person or animal especially cherished and indulged; a darling.

verb

1. (transitive) To stroke or fondle (an animal).
2. (transitive, intransitive, informal) To stroke or fondle (another person) amorously.
   1970-1975, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure We kissed & petted for about 15 mins & he still wasn't hard, altho he acted like he was enjoying himself.
3. (dated, transitive) To treat as a pet; to fondle; to indulge.
   His daughter was petted and spoiled.
   […] the American dramatist has had to waste most of his first act elaborately planting the information that his Mister Quex is rich, petted by Society, and altogether more spectacular than the common run of men. 1919 August, P. G. Wodehouse, “Prohibition and the Drama”, in Vanity Fair, page 21
4. (archaic, intransitive) To be a pet.
5. (archaic, intransitive) To be peevish; to sulk.
   He sure is queasie stomach't that must pet, and puke, at such a trivial circumstance

adj

1. Favourite; cherished; the focus of one's (usually positive) attention.
   a pet child
   The professor seemed offended by the criticism of her pet theory.
   Some young lady's pet curate. 1886, Frederic Harrison, The Choice of Books
   Major Butler has a pet grievance and a pet aversion, which he forces on the reader in every chapter, and which becomes at last very wearisome. 1875, William Conant Church, The Galaxy, page 141
   In an interview with Flying magazine, Heberding commented that her pet annoyance was "the reluctance of people generally to accept a woman whether as a pilot or a preflight inspector." 1991, Deborah G. Douglas, United States Women in Aviation, 1940-1985, page 9
2. Kept or treated as a pet.
   pet rock

Etymology 2

Clipping of petulance.

noun

1. A fit of petulance, a sulk, arising from the impression that one has been offended or slighted.
   There was something ludicrous, even more, unbecoming a gentleman, in leaving a friend's house in a pet, with the host's reproaches sounding in his ears, to be matched only by the bitterness of the guest's sneering retorts. 1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska, published 2005, page 105

Etymology 3

Clipping of petition.

noun

1. Abbreviation of petition.

Etymology 4

Clipping of petal.

noun

1. (Ireland, Tyneside) A term of endearment usually applied to women and children.