Faith & RitualGreek → English
Litany
/ˈlɪtəni/noun
A series of petitions in worship, each answered by a fixed response from the congregation.
The Greek roots
λιτή
litḗ
prayer, entreaty
Literally: “supplication”
Follow a root:λιτή1 word
The story of the word
The form is call and response, which is why the secular sense means a monotonous recital: a litany of complaints, a litany of excuses. In Homer the Λιταί are personified Prayers, limping daughters of Zeus who arrive slowly behind Ruin and try to repair the damage. Latin took the word for the processional prayers of Rogation days, and it entered English through French.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Late Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 13th century
In a sentence
The litany went on for twenty minutes, the same three words coming back each time.