petition

Pluralpetitions

Formspetitions, petitioning, petitioned

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A formal written request from a person or group to a ruler or government, often bearing many signatures and asking for a right, mercy, or the fixing of a wrong.

   The villagers submitted a petition to the king seeking relief from heavy taxes.

   Her petition gathered ten thousand signatures before it reached parliament.

   Similarappeal, request, plea, entreaty

   Note

   Behind the word is a Latin verb of seeking. Petitio, "a request," comes from petere, "to require, seek, go forward," and it reached English through Old French. In everyday use the document is something people sign and submit, and campaigns gather signatures toward a target, as when organizers hope for ten thousand names. Its force lies in the many voices asking together.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To make a formal request to a ruler or governing authority, asking for action or the redress of a wrong.

   Residents petitioned the council to halt the demolition.

   The merchants decided to petition the crown for new trading rights.

   Similarappeal, ask, request, lobby, entreat

   Note

   The verb takes the authority as its direct object, with no preposition: you petition the council or the crown. What is wanted follows as a to-infinitive (petitioned the council to demolish the building) or with for (petition the crown for new rights). What is opposed takes against. Railway Magazine (1955) reports that a railway company "has petitioned against" a bill before the House of Lords.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A formal written application to a court or magistrate, requesting a legal order or initiating a suit for divorce.

   The petition for divorce was filed in the county court last spring.

   His attorney submitted a petition requesting an emergency protective order.

   Similarapplication, motion, suit

   Note

   Legal procedure borrows the political request and redirects it. Instead of asking a ruler for grace, the petitioner asks a court or magistrate for an order. Lawyers file a petition, and it is usually named by what it seeks: a petition for divorce, or a petition for a protective order. The for-phrase tells the reader which proceeding is meant.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A prayer or earnest request, usually formal or humble, addressed to a deity, a sovereign, or an authority.

   He ended his prayer with a petition for guidance in the difficult days ahead.

   Each petition was met with a quiet 'amen' from the gathered worshippers.

   Similarprayer, plea, supplication, entreaty

   Note

   Here the request turns devotional, and the word often stands beside prayer as its partner. The King James Bible of 1611 speaks of "a house of prayer and petition for thy people." Within a prayer, a petition is the part that asks, as in a petition to God for courage and strength. The usual pattern is a petition to someone for something.

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