congratulate
Pronunciation
Etymology
It is borrowed from Latin congrātulātus, the past participle of congrātulor (“to wish joy”),[2][3][4][5][6] perhaps through Middle French congratuler,[4] formed from com- (“together, with”) and grātulor (“to give thanks, show joy”),[2][7][8] from grātus (“pleasing, agreeable”),[2][9][3] from Proto-Indo-European *gwere- (“to favor”).[2][7] Barnhart traces grātulor to an earlier *grātitulor, from a lost adjective meaning "thanks-bringing", from grātēs (“thanks”);[4] he also allows that the English verb may be a back-formation from the earlier congratulation (1438).[4] The French verb is recorded from the 14th century and is now somewhat archaic.[10]
Earliest recorded meaning
To address a person with expressions of joy at a fortunate event: the OED's first quotation is from Hall's Union (1548),[10] the year Barnhart also gives;[4] Merriam-Webster dates the first known use to 1539,[3] and Etymonline to the 1540s.[2]
Semantic evolution
In the late 16th and 17th centuries the verb was used in several constructions now lost: intransitively, to rejoice along with another (1587–1824); with the event as object, to express joy at it (1587–1819), or to celebrate it with some act (1583–1661); and to rejoice at or hail something (before 1631 to 1740).[10][11] It could also mean to salute or greet (1589–1611),[10][3] which Collins still lists as obsolete.[12] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to compliment upon any happy event".[13][10] The reflexive use, to count oneself fortunate or clever, is recorded from 1664,[10] and the plural noun congratulations from 1632, with the clipped congrats from 1884.[4]
Timeline
- 1438 – the noun congratulation.[4]
- 1539 – first known use according to Merriam-Webster.[3]
- 1548 – to address a person with expressions of joy.[10][4]
- 1583 – to celebrate with some act (obsolete).[10]
- 1587 – to rejoice along with another (obsolete).[10]
- 1589 – to salute (obsolete).[10]
- 1632 – the plural congratulations.[4]
- 1664 – reflexive, to account oneself fortunate.[10]
- 1884 – congrats.[4]
Meanings
Verb
- To express pleasure to someone at their success or good fortune, usually followed by on or for: We congratulated the twins on their exam results.[12][3][10]
- To think oneself clever or lucky because of something: He congratulated himself on finding a parking space.[12][10][3]
- (archaic) To express joy or satisfaction at an event.[3][10][11]
- (archaic) To rejoice together with others.[3][10]
- (obsolete) To salute or greet.[3][12][10]
Word family
- congratulator
- congratulatory
- uncongratulated
- uncongratulating
- congratulant
Related words
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
- ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
- ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
- ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.