litania

Forms

litanīa f (genitive litaniae); first declension; medieval spellings letania, laetania and latania.^[1][2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek λιτανεία (litaneía, “prayer, entreaty”),^[1][4][5] related to λιτανεύω (litaneúō, “to entreat, implore”).^[2] Etymonline traces the Greek noun to a word for prayer of unknown origin.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Sidonius Apollinaris, in the sense of a public prayer to God, a litany.^[1][7][2]

Semantic evolution

The Codex of Justinian has litanias facere, “to pray together”.^[4] The Rule of Benedict uses the word, which a gloss renders rogatio, postulatio.^[8]

In Medieval Latin it named a prayer of supplication with fixed responses, and also a solemn procession with chanting.^[9][5] The litania major was the procession of Saint Mark's day, 25 April, as a record from Clovesho noted in 747 “after the rite of the Roman church”; the litania minor or plural litaniae were the three Rogation days before Ascension Day.^[9][5] English took it around 1200 through Old French letanie and Medieval Latin letania.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 431–486 AD – Sidonius Apollinaris uses it for public prayer.^[1][2]
• 529 AD – The Rule of Benedict uses the word.^[8][2]
• 747 – A record from Clovesho calls the procession of 25 April laetania major.^[5]
• c. 1200 – Borrowed into English as litany.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A public prayer of supplication; a litany.^[1][10][9]
2. (Medieval Latin) A solemn procession with chanting.^[9][11]
3. (Medieval Latin) litania major: the procession on Saint Mark's day, 25 April.^[9][5]
4. (Medieval Latin) litania minor, litaniae: the Rogation Days before Ascension.^[9][5][11]

Related words

• rogātiō
• English litany

References

1. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ Novum Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis ab anno DCCC usque ad annum MCC (1957–), Copenhagen / Geneva / Paris: Union Académique Internationale; IRHT
4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c d e f Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
9. ^ a b c d e f Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
11. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences