Noun

Singular petition

Plural petitions

petition (plural petitions)

1. A formal, written request made to an official person or organized body, often containing many signatures.
2. A compilation of signatures built in order to exert moral authority in support of a specific cause.
3. (law) A formal written request for judicial action.

Verb

Infinitive to petition

Third person singular petitions

Simple past petitioned

Past participle petitioned

Present participle petitioning

to petition (third-person singular simple present petitions, present participle petitioning, simple past and past participle petitioned)

1. To make a request, commonly in written form.

A petition is a request to change something, most commonly made to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer.

In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some official and signed by numerous individuals. A petition may be oral rather than written, and in this era may be transmitted via the Internet. The term also has a specific meaning in the legal profession as a request, directed to a court or administrative tribunal, seeking some sort of relief such as a court order.

A petition can also be the title of a legal pleading that initiates a case to be heard before a court. The initial pleading in a civil lawsuit that seeks only money (damages) might be titled (in most U.S. courts) a complaint; an initial pleading in a lawsuit seeking non-monetary or "equitable" relief such as a request for a writ of mandamus or habeas corpus, or for custody of a child or for probate of a will, would instead be termed a petition.