Word.ws English Dictionary

Pettigrew

Pettigrew proper noun: a surname.

Proper noun

Pettigrew

  1. A surname.
  2. An unincorporated community in Madison County, Arkansas, United States.

Forms of Pettigrew

alternative formPettigru
alternative formPettegre
alternative formPetegre
alternative formPetigrew
alternative formPetticrew
alternative formPetegrew
alternative formPettygrew

Origin of Pettigrew

Unknown, although possibly from the French phrase "petit cru" (small growth) from Anglo-Norman French "petit creu", thus as a nickname for a small/short man. Other interpretations include from the French phrase "pie de grue" (crane's foot), i.e., someone with long legs (cf. pedigree, from Anglo-French "pe de gru", a variant of Old French pied de gru, "foot of a crane"). Attested from the 13th century as an English surname.

Questions about Pettigrew

What does Pettigrew mean?
Pettigrew means a surname.
What part of speech is Pettigrew?
Pettigrew is a proper noun.

Words near Pettigrew in the dictionary

  1. pettifogulizes
  2. pettifogulizing
  3. Pettiford
  4. Pettifords
  5. Pettigo
  6. Pettigrew
  7. Pettijohn
  8. Pettijohns
  9. pettiloon
  10. pettiloons
  11. pettily

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Pettigrew (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “Pettigrew.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pettigrew. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.