Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LIT'A-NY, n. [Fr. litanie; Gr. λιτανεια, supplication, from λιτανευω, λιτομαι, λισσομαι, to pray.]

A solemn form of supplication, used in public worship. Supplications for the appeasing of God's wrath, were by the Greek church termed litanies, by the Latin, rogations. – Hooker.