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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Petition \Pe*ti"tion\, n. [F. p['e]tition, 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.
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A house of prayer and petition for thy people. --1
Macc. vii. 37.
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This last petition heard of all her prayer.
--Dryden.
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2. A formal written request addressed to an official person,
or to an organized body, having power to grant it.
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3. Specifically: (Law), A request to government, in either of
its branches, for the granting of a particular grace or
right, or for the legislature to take a specific action;
-- in distinction from a {memorial}, which calls certain
facts to mind. The petition may be signed by one or any
number of persons.
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4. The written document containing a {petition} (senses 1 or
2).
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{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.
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Petition \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.
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You have . . . petitioned all the gods for my
prosperity. --Shak.
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Petition \Pe*ti"tion\, v. i.
To make a petition or solicitation.
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