To congratulate; to express joy or good wishes on someone's good fortune or achievement.
From Latin 'gratulari' (to wish joy to), from 'gratus' (pleasing). The English verb was adopted in the 16th century but remained quite formal and literary.
Gratulate is the ancestor of our modern word 'congratulate,' but somewhere along the way English speakers couldn't resist adding a 'con-' prefix (meaning 'with'), making it more emphatic about wishing joy together.
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