Meanings
plural gratulations
- archaiccountableuncountableA feeling of happiness and satisfaction; joy, especially at one's good fortune.
Shattuck, all unaccustomed to the practical phenomena of digging, apprehended only cause of gratulation that the investigation was to be the less hindered.
1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska, published 2005, page 206 - archaiccountableuncountableThe expression of pleasure at someone else's success or luck; congratulation.
—The chorus fell In gratulation on a patriarch's ear, Who in the bosom of his sylvan home With dignity reposed.
1827, Lydia Sigourney, Poems, On the Death of John Adams, page 1911 more example
all Heav’n, And happie Constellations on that houre / Shed thir selectest influence; the Earth Gave sign of gratulation
1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC
Origin
- Latingrātulātiō
- Englishgratulation
From Latin grātulātiō, from grātulor.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with gratulation
Cite this entry
gratulation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gratulation
“gratulation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gratulation. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gratulation,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gratulation.
Source: gratulation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.