Herman Wouk
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A Short History of Litany
How do we love the word litany? Let us count the ways. We love its original 13th century meaning, still in use today, referring to a call-and-response prayer in which a series of lines are spoken alternately by a leader and a congregation. We love how litany has developed in the intervening centuries three figurative senses, and we love each of these as well: first, a sense meaning “repetitive chant”; next, the “lengthy recitation” sense owing to the repetitious—and sometimes interminable—nature of the original litany; and finally, an even broader sense referring to any sizeable series or set. Though litanies of this third sort tend to be unpleasant, we choose today to think of the loveliness found in the idea of “a litany of sonnets by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.”
Examples of litany in a Sentence
Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 17 May 2025
The president is set to wrap up his three-country tour on Friday, after striking a litany of pledges by oil-rich Gulf states to deepen business ties with U.S. companies.
—Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times, 16 May 2025
Reporters Without Borders reported on the litany of restrictions, including banning political debates and any content critical of the Taliban, covering demonstrations, broadcasting music, and publishing any images of living beings.
—Dr. Ewelina U. Ochab, Forbes.com, 5 May 2025
Another lawsuit, from the state of Maine, lists and provides photographs of a litany of internal industry documents showing industry knowledge of the threat of climate change.
—Hannah Wiseman, The Conversation, 18 Apr. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Litany.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/litany. Accessed 30 May. 2025.
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litany
noun
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