petition Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a formal message requesting something that is submitted to an authority
postulation; request.
noun reverent petition to a deity
orison; prayer.
verb write a petition for something to somebody; request formally and in writing

F. pétition, L. petitio, fr. petere, petitum, to beg, ask, seek; perh. akin to E. feather, or find.

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.
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.

imperfect & past participle Petitioned ; present participle & verbal noun 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.