Petit or Petite are classical ballet terms meaning “small.” It is a descriptive term used with other ballet terms to show that the step is done small. For example, petite allegro, means “small jumps,” or a petit jeté means a “small jeté.”
Petite is usually used to mean the opposite of grande. Petit is usually used for steps, though the difference is that petit is for feminine words while petite is for masculine words. Unfortunately, there are no strict rules to when to use which version in the French language, so both are sometimes used randomly.
