Pe*ti"tion , v. i. To make a petition or solicitation.
Pe*ti"tion , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Petitioned (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Petitioning.]
To make a prayer or request to; to ask from; to solicit; to entreat; especially, to make a formal
written supplication, or application to, as to any branch of the
government; as, to petition the court; to
petition the governor.
You have . . . petitioned all the gods for my prosperity.
Shak.
Pe*ti"tion (?), n. [F. pétition, L. petitio, fr. petere, petitum, to beg, ask, seek; perh. akin to E. feather, or find.]
1. A prayer; a supplication; an imploration; an entreaty; especially, a request of
a solemn or
formal kind; a prayer to the Supreme Being, or to a person of superior power, rank, or authority; also, a single clause in such a prayer.
A
house of prayer and petition for thy people.
1
Macc. vii. 37. This last petition heard of all
her prayer.
Dryden. 2. A formal written request addressed to an official person, or to
an organized body, having power to grant it; specifically (Law),
a supplication to government, in either of
its branches, for the granting of a
particular grace or right; -- in
distinction from a memorial, which calls certain facts to mind; also,
the written document.
Petition of right (Law), a petition to
obtain possession or restitution of property, either real or personal, from the Crown, which suggests such a title
as controverts the title of the
Crown, grounded on facts disclosed in the petition itself. Mozley & W. --
The Petition of Right (Eng. Hist.), the parliamentary declaration of the rights of the people, assented to by Charles I.
Hear it pronounced