petit jury

American  

[pet-ee] / ˈpɛt i /

noun

Law.

1. petty jury.

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petit jury British  

noun

1. Also called: petty jury.  a jury of 12 persons empanelled to determine the facts of a case and decide the issue pursuant to the direction of the court on points of law Compare grand jury

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Other Word Forms

• petit juror
  noun

Etymology

Origin of petit jury

First recorded in 1490–1500

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

petit jury

The trial jury is often called the petit jury.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2016

The jurors - seven men, five women; nine whites, three blacks - were chosen from the circuit court petit jury pool in May.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 17, 2015

In later years, the accusations of these original grand juries were submitted to a petit jury, which was often locked up without food or water until it reached a verdict.

From Time Magazine Archive

I then called a petit jury, and assigned counsel for the prisoner.

From Personal Reminiscences of Early Days in California with Other Sketches; To Which Is Added the Story of His Attempted Assassination by a Former Associate on the Supreme Bench of the State by Field, Stephen Johnson

The lessee contract would not stand fifteen minutes before a petit jury.

From Twentieth Century Negro Literature Or, A Cyclopedia of Thought on the Vital Topics Relating to the American Negro by Culp, Daniel Wallace