petit point
1
9.5
- noun
- Specialized
:
punto de cruz
- The delicate furnishings and petit point chair seats indicated a woman's touch.
Examples
-
That's why I know how to do petit point.
-
The delicate furnishings and petit point chair seats indicated a woman's touch.
Fiction book (1991) -
We see Claudia draped in lace standing on a petit point chair as a dressmaker measures out a garment.
Fiction book (1994) -
St. James entered it, looked for a moment at a huge needlepoint tapestry called "Tree of Life" on which the seals of the fifty states were done in petit point, then continued through another door leading into the Children's Chapel, his favorite of the cathedral's nine chapels.
Fiction book (1990) -
On the walls behind her were framed petit point works, finely embroidered landscapes that Maria had recently completed.
-
Today he's all jade and emeralds, and his coat is the most wonderful pattern of pale violet stripes, worked entirely in petit point just like my grandmother's footstool.
Synonyms
12
4.9
A kind of hand sewing on canvas that makes decorative pictures
1
6.8
Decorative sewing done with a needle and thread
A kind of sewing that uses yarn stitched through stiff open canvas to make pictures or patterns
How Detailed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a French borrowing literally meaning 'small point', so knowing 'petit' (small) and 'point' (point) gives a partial clue toward very small points or stitches. However, the specific sense—a particular fine needlepoint embroidery technique—is a specialized, culture-bound term that a B1 learner would not reliably infer from the basic words alone, making the expression only partially transparent.
Etymology
Petit point comes from French; petit means 'small' and point means 'stitch'. It names fine embroidery made with very tiny, close stitches to make detailed pictures, so the phrase literally means 'small stitches'.