litany
/ˈlɪtəni/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.88 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A ritual liturgical prayer in which a series of prayers recited by a leader are alternated with responses from the congregation.
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonym: jeremiad"
- "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, […]"
- "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."
- "There are, to be sure, some differences in how the candidates propose addressing this litany of concerns."
- "[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”."
Etymology
Etymology tree Ancient Greek λῐτή (lĭtḗ) Ancient Greek -ᾰνός (-ănós) Ancient Greek λῐτᾰνός (lĭtănós) Pre-Greekder.? Proto-Hellenic *-eús Ancient Greek -εύς (-eús) Ancient Greek -εύω (-eúō) Ancient Greek λῐτᾰνεύω (lĭtăneúō) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ία (-ía) Ancient Greek -είᾱ (-eíā) Ancient Greek λῐτᾰνείᾱ (lĭtăneíā)der. Latin litaniader. Old French letanieder. Middle English English litany From Middle English, from Old French letanie, from Latin litania, from Ancient Greek λιτανεία (litaneía, “prayer”), from λιτή (litḗ, “prayer, entreaty”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: -, litania