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It looks like “petit theft” is a valid alternative spelling of “petty theft”, and AFAICT it’s the spelling that Florida law uses. Probably because “petty” is an anglicization of the French word “petit”, meaning “small”.
While absolutely conceding the synonymous property of the two phrases, I will further confess to never having encountered the francified version, which seems unfair since they had it first.
As a reference source I bristle at Merriam-Webster’s citing only four recent examples from current year (2026) and one more from only a year earlier. That’s utterly – nay, actively – useless to establish provenance or actual etymological information. But that’s on par for M-W. Etymonline’s result for “petty” was more useful.
A DDG search on ‘“petit theft” provenance’ results was more fruitful, and maybe where your own AFAICT info came from(?):
Twice, even.
And then at the end,
I call horseshit on that last sentence.
It looks like “petit theft” is a valid alternative spelling of “petty theft”, and AFAICT it’s the spelling that Florida law uses. Probably because “petty” is an anglicization of the French word “petit”, meaning “small”.
Welp, TIL. Thank you. :)
While absolutely conceding the synonymous property of the two phrases, I will further confess to never having encountered the francified version, which seems unfair since they had it first.
As a reference source I bristle at Merriam-Webster’s citing only four recent examples from current year (2026) and one more from only a year earlier. That’s utterly – nay, actively – useless to establish provenance or actual etymological information. But that’s on par for M-W. Etymonline’s result for “petty” was more useful.
A DDG search on ‘“petit theft” provenance’ results was more fruitful, and maybe where your own AFAICT info came from(?):
I’ll chalk-up the difference to mutual provinciality and the Atlantic USAian coast’s complicated history with the French. ;-)