Making a formal written request, usually signed by many people, asking someone in authority to do something.
From Latin 'petitio' meaning request or seeking, from 'petere' meaning to seek; entered English via Old French 'petition' in the 1300s.
The Magna Carta was essentially a petition—British nobles were technically 'petitioning' King John to follow the rules, which shows how petitions have been power tools for the powerless since medieval times.
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