pet

Meaning

1. An animal kept as a companion.
2. 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.

caress

fondle

domestic animal

domesticated animal

preferent

best-loved

teacher’s pet

caress tenderly

lean close to

touch fondly

to be peevish

little favourite

brush on

mouse ear

bad mood

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/pɛt/

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.

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