litany
/ˈlɪtəni/
"litany" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“litany” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #33,712. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #33,712
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A ritual liturgical prayer in which a series of prayers recited by a leader are alternated with responses from the congregation.
Corpus desk
Index EN-litany · litany · English
litany · rank #33,712 · 9 variants · 3 confusables
- FREQ-MID #33,712
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH Linton
Nearest frequency peer: Linton (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “litany”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- lifesaver
lifesaver
66,291 corpus weight
- Linton
Linton
66,290 corpus weight
- litany
litany
66,289 corpus weight
- localised
localised
66,288 corpus weight
- locket
locket
66,287 corpus weight
- locomotion
locomotion
66,286 corpus weight
What this shows “litany” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | litany |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlɪtəni/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #33,712 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “litany”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around litany (IPA /ˈlɪtəni/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #33,712 among 2,297 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for litany, with forms such as "iltany", "liatny", and "litanny". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "Lian", "liang", "ligand", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English, from Old French letanie, from Latin litania, from Ancient Greek λιτανεία (litaneía, “prayer”), from λιτή (litḗ, “prayer, entreaty”). The correct English form is litany, spelled L-I-T-A-N-Y.
Definition
- 1A ritual liturgical prayer in which a series of prayers recited by a leader are alternated with responses from the congregation.
- 2A prolonged or tedious list.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how litany appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
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.
Etymology
From Middle English, from Old French letanie, from Latin litania, from Ancient Greek λιτανεία (litaneía, “prayer”), from λιτή (litḗ, “prayer, entreaty”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- iltany
- liatny
- litanny
- litanyy
- litayn
- litnay
- littany
- llitany
- ltiany
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of litany - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "litany", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).