Petition, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Petitioned; p. pr. & vb. n. Petitioning.]
To make a prayer or request to; to ask from; to solicit; to entreat; especially, to make a formal written supplication, or application to, as to any branch of the government; as, to petition the court; to petition the governor. You have . . . petitioned all the gods for my prosperity. Shak.
2 other Webster entries under this spelling
Petition, n.
1. A prayer; a supplication; an imploration; an entreaty; especially, a request of a solemn or formal kind; a prayer to the Supreme Being, or to a person of superior power, rank, or authority; also, a single clause in such a prayer. A house of prayer and petition for thy people. 1 Macc. vii. 37. This last petition heard of all her prayer. Dryden.
2. A formal written request addressed to an official person, or to an organized body, having power to grant it; specifically (Law), a supplication to government, in either of its branches, for the granting of a particular grace or right; -- in distinction from a memorial, which calls certain facts to mind; also, the written document. Petition of right (Law), a petition to obtain possession or restitution of property, either real or personal, from the Crown, which suggests such a title as controverts the title of the Crown, grounded on facts disclosed in the petition itself. Mozley & W. -- The Petition of Right (Eng. Hist.), the parliamentary declaration of the rights of the people, assented to by Charles I.
Petition, v. i.
To make a petition or solicitation.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for petition; he lists it under ask, pray.
Where he writes about it:
Pray is now used chiefly of address to the Supreme Being; petition is used of written request to persons in authority; as, to petition the legislature to pass an act, or the governor to pardon an offender. — from ask
Beseech and entreat express great earnestness of petition; implore and supplicate denote the utmost fervency and intensity, supplicate implying also humility. — from pray