litany

L1I1T1A1N1Y4
/ˈlɪtəni/

noun

A ritual liturgical prayer in which a series of prayers recited by a leader are alternated with responses from the congregation.

“Near-synonym: jeremiad”

Less commonScrabble 9

Meanings

nounlitany (plural litanies)

plural litanies

  1. A ritual liturgical prayer in which a series of prayers recited by a leader are alternated with responses from the congregation.

    Synonyms: call and response

  2. figurativelyA prolonged or tedious list.

    Near-synonym: jeremiad

    4 more examples

    The litany of packaging innovations introduced to or popularized in the U.S. food market over the last generation seems endless: flexible aseptic packaging, barrier plastics, squeezables, lightweight glass, the retort pouch, […]

    1988, Prepared Foods, volume 157, numbers 11-13, page 9

    To that end he had sent his men among the common folk of the town, from whom came a litany of tales that led Hawk to a stunningly wrong conclusion. "It seems I may not be good enough at listening," he said regretfully.

    2009 July 22, Josie Litton, Come Back to Me: A Novel (Viking & Saxon), Random House Publishing Group, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 102

    There are, to be sure, some differences in how the candidates propose addressing this litany of concerns.

    2016 January 30, “America deserves more from presidential hopefuls”, in The National, archived from the original on 17 Feb 2016, retrieved 31 Jan 2016

    [Sam Bankman-Fried] is charged with a litany of fraud and campaign finance law violations, in what US prosecutors are calling “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history”.

    2022 December 15, David A Banks, “Crypto was supposed to solve financial corruption. The FTX scandal shows it’s got worse”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 08 Feb 2023

    Synonyms: laundry list, jeremiad

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA ritual liturgical prayer in which a series of prayers recited by a leader are alternated with responses from the congregation.

nounA prolonged or tedious list.

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekλῐτή (lĭtḗ)
  2. Ancient Greekλῐτᾰνός (lĭtănós)
  3. Ancient Greekλῐτᾰνεύω (lĭtăneúō)
  4. Ancient Greekλῐτᾰνείᾱ (lĭtăneíā)
  5. Latinlitania
  6. Old Frenchletanie
  7. Englishlitany

From Middle English, from Old French letanie, from Latin litania, from Ancient Greek λιτανεία (litaneía, “prayer”), from λιτή (litḗ, “prayer, entreaty”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian литания
  • литания (litanija)ritual liturgical prayer
Catalan lletania, lletania
  • lletaniaritual liturgical prayer
  • lletaniaprolonged or tedious list
Chinese Cantonese 贅述 /赘述
  • 贅述 /赘述 (zeoi⁶ seot⁶)prolonged or tedious list
Czech litanie
  • litanieritual liturgical prayer
Danish litani
  • litaniritual liturgical prayer
Dutch litanie, litanie
  • litanieritual liturgical prayer
  • litanieprolonged or tedious list
Esperanto litanio
  • litanioprolonged or tedious list
Finnish litania
  • litaniaritual liturgical prayer
French litanie, litanie
  • litanieritual liturgical prayer
  • litanieprolonged or tedious list
  • kyrielleprolonged or tedious list
German Litanei, Litanei
  • Litaneiritual liturgical prayer
  • Litaneiprolonged or tedious list
Greek λιτανεία, λιτανεία
  • λιτανεία (litaneía)ritual liturgical prayer
  • λιτανεία (litaneía)prolonged or tedious list
Hungarian litánia
  • litániaritual liturgical prayer
Indonesian litani
  • litaniritual liturgical prayer
Italian litania, litania
  • litaniaritual liturgical prayer
  • litaniaprolonged or tedious list
Māori ritani
  • ritaniritual liturgical prayer
Polish litania, litania
  • litaniaritual liturgical prayer
  • litaniaprolonged or tedious list
Portuguese litania, ladainha
  • litaniaritual liturgical prayer
  • ladainharitual liturgical prayer
  • litaniaprolonged or tedious list
  • ladainhaprolonged or tedious list
Russian лита́ния, ектенья́
  • лита́ния (litánija)ritual liturgical prayer
  • ектенья́ (jektenʹjá)ritual liturgical prayer
  • лита́ния (litánija)prolonged or tedious list
Slovak litánie
  • litánieritual liturgical prayer
Spanish letanía, letanía
  • letaníaritual liturgical prayer
  • letaníaprolonged or tedious list
Swedish litania
  • litaniaritual liturgical prayer
Cite this entry
APA

litany. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/litany

MLA

“litany.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/litany. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “litany,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/litany.

Source: litany on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.