Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Petitory \Pet"i*to*ry\, a. [L. petitorius, fr. petere, petitum,
   to beg, ask: cf. F. p['e]titore.]
   Petitioning; soliciting; supplicating. --Sir W. Hamilton.

   {Petitory suit} or {action} (Admiralty Law), a suit in which
      the mere title to property is litigated and sought to be
      enforced, as distinguished from a possessory suit; also
      (Scots Law), a suit wherein the plaintiff claims something
      as due him by the defendant. --Burrill.