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LITANY - 5 dictionary results

lit⋅a⋅ny

  [lit-n-ee]
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–noun, plural -nies.
1. a ceremonial or liturgical form of prayer consisting of a series of invocations or supplications with responses that are the same for a number in succession.
2. the Litany, the supplication in this form in the Book of Common Prayer.
3. a recitation or recital that resembles a litany.
4. a prolonged or tedious account: We heard the whole litany of their complaints.
Origin:
bef. 900; < LL litanīa < LGk litaneía litany, Gk: an entreating, equiv. to litan- (s. of litaínein, var. of litaneúein to pray) + -eia -y 3 ; r. ME letanie, OE letanīa < ML, LL, as above

Synonyms:
4. list, catalog, enumeration.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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lit·a·ny   (lĭt'n-ē)   
n.   pl. lit·a·nies
  1. A liturgical prayer consisting of a series of petitions recited by a leader alternating with fixed responses by the congregation.
  2. A repetitive or incantatory recital: "the litany of layoffs in recent months by corporate giants" (Sylvia Nasar).

[Middle English letanie, from Old French, from Medieval Latin letanīa, from Late Latin litanīa, from Late Greek litaneia, from Greek, entreaty, from litaneuein, to entreat, from litanos, entreating, from litē, supplication.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Litany

Lit"a*ny\, n.; pl. Litanies. [OE. letanie, OF. letanie, F. litanie, L. litania, Gr. ?, fr. ? to pray, akin to ?, ?, to pray, ? prayer.] A solemn form of supplication in the public worship of various churches, in which the clergy and congregation join, the former leading and the latter responding in alternate sentences. It is usually of a penitential character.

Supplications . . . for the appeasing of God's wrath were of the Greek church termed litanies, and rogations of the Latin. --Hooker.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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litany

In many religions, a ritual repetition of prayers. Usually a clergyman or singer chants a prayer, and the congregation makes a response, such as “Lord, have mercy.”

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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litany 
1225, from M.L. letania, from L.L. litania, from Gk. litaneia "litany, an entreating," from lite "prayer, supplication, entreaty," of unknown origin. From notion of monotonous enumeration of petitions came generalized sense of "repeated series," 19c., borrowed from Fr.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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