different between petty vs netty

English

Etymology

From Middle English pety, from Old French peti, petit. Doublet of petit. The disparaging meaning developed over the 16th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p?ti/
• Homophone: Petty
  • (General American) IPA^(key): [?p???i]
  • Homophones: Petty, pedi
• Rhymes: -?ti

Adjective

petty (comparative pettier or more petty, superlative pettiest or most petty)

1. (obsolete except in set phrases) Little, small, secondary in rank or importance.

   petty officer, petty cash
2. Insignificant, trifling, or inconsiderable.

   a petty fault
3. Narrow-minded, small-minded.

4. Begrudging in nature, especially over insignificant matters.

   That corporation is only slightly pettier than they are greedy, and they are overdue to reap the consequences.

Synonyms

• (little, unimportant): See Thesaurus:insignificant
• (begrudging): grudgeful, grudging

Antonyms

• (little): See Thesaurus:big
• (begrudging): See Thesaurus:kindly
• (small-minded): broad-minded

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• quibble

Noun

petty (plural petties)

1. (usually in the plural, obsolete) A little schoolboy, either in grade or size.
2. (historical) A class or school for young schoolboys.
3. (dialect, euphemistic) An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.

Synonyms

• (school for young schoolboys): ABC, petty school
• (class for young schoolboys): petty form
• (outhouse): See Thesaurus:outhouse

See also

• Petty France

References

• "petty, adj. and n.", in the Oxford English Dictionary (2005), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• “petty”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
• petty in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• petty in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Hungarian

Alternative forms

• pötty

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?p?c?]
• Hyphenation: petty
• Rhymes: -?c?

Noun

petty (plural pettyek)

1. dot, spot, fleck, speck

   Synonyms: folt, pont, paca, pecsét, csepp, (on the face) szepl?

Derived terms

(Expressions):

• hétpettyes katicabogár (“seven-spot[ted] ladybird/ladybug”)

Declension

Further reading

• petty in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmez? szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: ?ISBN

English

Alternative forms

• nettie, neddy

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n?ti/
• Rhymes: -?ti

Etymology 1

net (“elegant, neat”) +? -y (“forming adjs. of slightly lesser degree”)

Adjective

netty (comparative nettier, superlative nettiest)

1. (obsolete, rare) Neat, well-groomed, natty.
   • 1573, Thomas Tusser, "Points of Huswifrie" in Fiue Hundreth Points of Good Husbandry:

     How prettie, how fine and how nettie,
     Good huswife should yettie.

Etymology 2

net (“openwork fabric mesh”) +? -y (“forming adjectives”)

Adjective

netty (comparative nettier, superlative nettiest)

1. Netted: made of or employing a net.
   • 1587, Leonard Mascall, The Booke of Cattell: Sheep, p. 214:

     Ye ought for to keepe them close, till the day haue taken the gellie or netty rime, from the earth.

2. Netlike.

Etymology 3

Of uncertain etymology. Proposed derivations include a corruption of necessary, an euphemism for outhouse; French nettoyer (“to cleanse”); and Italian gabbinetti (“toilets”).

Noun

netty (plural netties)

1. (Tyneside) An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
   • 1978, John Lewis, Uncertain Sound, Ch. iii, p. 75:

     A line of pit cottages... tiny back gardens with outside lavatories, ‘netties’, some of them emptied twice a week by the council.

   • 1992 May 4, The Independent, p. 13:

     Our toilet was an outside netty shared between two or three families, where you sat on a hole and hoped the cat wouldn't jump at your backside.

2. (Tyneside) Any other place or fixture used for urination and defecation: a lavatory; a toilet.
   • 1903, English Dialect Dictionary, Vol. IV, p. 255:

     Netty, a privy or water-closet... A common name, amongst the working classes... In common use. In my recollection it was looked upon as a euphemism.

Usage notes

Originally reckoned euphemistic.

Synonyms

• (outhouse): See Thesaurus:bathroom
• (toilet): See Thesaurus:toilet

References

• A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, ?ISBN
• Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin, [1]
• Todd's Geordie Words and Phrases, George Todd, Newcastle, 1977[2]
• The Geordie Netty: A Short History and Guide, Frank Graham, 1986, Butler Publishing; New edition, ?ISBN[3]