pet

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   An animal that you keep at home for company and pleasure.

   We have two pets: a dog and a cat.

2. 2
   verb

   To gently touch or stroke an animal with your hand.

   I love to pet cute puppies.

3. 3
   adj

   Favourite or special to you.

   Recycling is her pet project at work.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Pet entered English in the mid-16th century from Scottish Gaelic peata “tame animal.” In Scotland and northern England it first meant a hand-reared lamb or a spoiled or favourite child, and by the early 18th century it had broadened to any domestic or tamed animal kept for companionship. The verb “to stroke affectionately” appeared in the early 17th century, while the sexual sense arose in the United States in the 1920s.

Originally northern dialectal, from Scots pet (“an animal that has been tamed and is kept as a pet; a darling or favourite; a petted or spoiled child”), probably from Scottish Gaelic peata (“pet, tamed animal, spoiled child”), from Middle Irish petta, peta (“pet, lap-dog”), of uncertain origin, possibly from a pre-Indo-European substrate. Compare also peat (“pet, darling, woman”), which is likely not related. The verb is derived from the noun.

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary