DictionaryAI

pet

PET/pɛt/

Pluralpets

Verbpets, petting, petted

13 meanings of pet

Practice

  1. 1
    companion animalnouncountable
    An animal, or jokingly an object or plant, kept for companionship or pleasure rather than for work.

    Apartment buildings often limit the number of pets a tenant may keep.

    After retiring, he adopted a pet to keep him company on long afternoons.

    UsageSay have a pet, or keep an animal as a pet: a turtle as a pet.

    Note

    The Scots word already covered a tamed animal, a darling and a spoiled child, so the companion-animal meaning and the cherished person share the same Scots roots.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Scots pet covered a tamed animal, a darling and a spoiled child. en.wiktionary.org
    • The companion-animal and cherished-person meanings share an origin in Scots pet. en.wiktionary.org
  2. 2
    adjective
    Kept or treated as a companion animal rather than living wild or being used for work.

    Escaped pet parrots have formed wild colonies in several American cities.

    Unlike the working dogs on the ranch, their pet terrier spent most days asleep on the couch.

    UsageBefore a noun: a pet rabbit, pet parrots.

    Similartame, domestic, domesticated

    Oppositewild, feral

  3. 3
    stroke (animal)verbtransitive
    To stroke or fondle an animal, typically with gentle movements of the hand.

    Visitors may pet the goats in the children's area of the zoo.

    He petted the nervous horse until it stopped stamping.

    UsageThe t doubles: petted, petting, as in she petted the cat.

    Similarstroke, pat, caress, fondle

  4. 4
    favorite (thing)adjectivefiguratively
    Favorite; cherished; the particular, usually approving, focus of someone's attention.

    The senator's pet cause this session is rural broadband.

    Every professor seems to have a pet theory about why enrollment keeps falling.

    UsageBefore a noun, usually with a possessive: her pet project, the senator's pet cause.

    Similarfavorite, cherished, preferred

    Note

    Frederic Harrison's The Choice of Books (1886) gives an early taste with "some young lady's pet curate," a phrase in which the fondness is plainly someone else's.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Frederic Harrison wrote The Choice of Books. books.google.ne
    • Harrison's The Choice of Books contains the exact phrase some young lady's pet curate. en.wiktionary.org
  5. 5
    nouncountable
    A person treated as a favorite and given special attention or treatment, sometimes resented by others, as in 'teacher's pet'.

    As the only grandchild, she was the pet of the entire family.

    The new intern quickly became the pet of the senior partners, who gave him the best cases.

    UsageOften with a possessive: her father's pet. Make a pet of someone means spoil them.

    Similarfavorite, darling

    Note

    Here the word sits closest to its roots. It came into English from northern dialect and Scots, where a pet was already a darling or a spoiled child, probably through Scottish Gaelic peata. The idiom to make a pet of someone shows the indulgence at work: in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847), a girl strokes her little cousin's curls and kisses his cheek. In Richard Steele's Tatler of 1710, a visitor lists pets beside cronies and favorites.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

    • Pet entered English through northern dialect and Scots, with senses including a darling or spoiled child, probably from Scottish Gaelic peata. en.wiktionary.org
    • Emily Brontë wrote Wuthering Heights. gutenberg.org
    • Wuthering Heights was first published in 1847. en.wikisource.org
    • The novel illustrates making a pet of someone through a girl stroking her cousin's curls and kissing his cheek. gutenberg.org
    • Richard Steele lists pets beside cronies and favorites. gutenberg.org
    • The original issue is dated December 21, 1710, Old Style. Wiktionary's 1711 date converts this to January 1, 1711, Gregorian; the original publication date should be used here. gutenberg.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of pet apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–7, 10–11

The word began in northern dialect and was taken from Scots "pet," which meant a darling or favorite, a tamed animal kept as a pet, or a spoiled child. Scots probably took it from "peata," a Scottish Gaelic word for a pet, a tamed animal, or a spoiled child, and that came from Middle Irish "petta" or "peta" (pet, lap-dog). Where it ultimately comes from is uncertain, perhaps a pre-Indo-European substrate. The verb was formed from the noun.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

  • English pet was originally northern dialectal and borrowed from Scots pet. en.wiktionary.org
  • Scots pet meant a darling or favorite, a tamed animal kept as a pet, or a spoiled child. en.wiktionary.org
  • Scots pet probably derives from Scottish Gaelic peata, meaning a pet, tame animal, or spoiled child. en.wiktionary.org
  • Scottish Gaelic peata derives from Middle Irish petta or peta, meaning pet or lap-dog. en.wiktionary.org
  • The ultimate origin is uncertain, possibly a pre-Indo-European substrate. en.wiktionary.org
  • The verb pet derives from the noun. en.wiktionary.org
Meaning 9

A clipping of "petulance."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

Meaning 8

A clipping of "petal."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact