Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1965 (SND Vol. VI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1881-1924
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]
LEETANY, n. Also leet(i)ny. A long rambling story, a rigmarole, a meaningless form of words (Abd. 1825 Jam.; Sh., ne.Sc. 1960).ne.Sc. 1881 A. Mackie Scotticisms 42:
I had to listen to a litany about his brother's wife.Abd. 1892 Innes Rev. (Spring 1956) 20:
I thocht it a gey like leetany to hear them at the Grammar.Abd. 1915 H. Beaton Benachie 92:
For gien's that leetiny [repeating a verse] I'll tell ye something ye wid like richt tae ken.Bnff. 1924 Swatches o' Hamespun 24:
Gweed-mornin comes like a leetny aff my tongue.
You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Leetany n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 11 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/leetany>
