in petto

American

[een-pet-taw, in-pet-oh] / inˈpɛt tɔ, ɪnˈpɛt oʊ /

adjective

Italian.

(of cardinals whom the pope appoints but does not disclose in consistory) not disclosed.

in petto British

/ ɪn ˈpɛtəʊ /

adjective

RC Church not disclosed: used of the names of cardinals designate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of in petto

Literally, “in (the) breast”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

in petto

Both, as a matter of fact, may now be Cardinals in petto, i.e., in the Pope's breast.

From Time Magazine Archive

Many American Catholics hope that Pius XII may have created New York's Archbishop Francis J. Spellman a Cardinal in petto when the American prelate was at the Vatican a month ago.

From Time Magazine Archive

And besides their respective rights in the matter, each party had other reasons in petto.

From Pretty Michal by Mór Jókai

Was he lying as a cardinal in petto till the right moment, and then simply showed himself to be appointed as one born unto this end?

From Kate Carnegie and Those Ministers by Ian Maclaren

Royalty in petto seems to have taken, with a most refreshing cordiality, to the avocations of baking and brewing, pig-tending, poultry-feeding, and pony-catching.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol IV. No. XX. January, 1852. by Various

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023