litany - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

lit·a·ny

Audio Help [lit-n-ee] Pronunciation Key

–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 -y³; r. ME letanie, OE letanīa < ML, LL, as above

]

—Synonyms 4. list, catalog, enumeration.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
litany

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

lit·a·ny Audio Help (lĭt'n-ē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. lit·a·nies

A liturgical prayer consisting of a series of petitions recited by a leader alternating with fixed responses by the congregation.
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.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

litany
noun
1.	any long and tedious address or recital; "the patient recited a litany of complaints"; "a litany of failures"
2.	a prayer consisting of a series of invocations by the priest with responses from the congregation

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
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.”

[Chapter:] World Literature, Philosophy, and Religion

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

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