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congratulatory (adj.)
"conveying congratulations," 1520s; see congratulate + -ory.
Entries linking to congratulatory
congratulate (v.)
"address with expressions of sympathetic pleasure," 1540s, from Latin congratulatus, past participle of congratulari "wish joy," from assimilated form of com "together, with" (see con-) + gratulari "give thanks, show joy," from gratus "agreeable" (from suffixed form of PIE root *gwere- (2) "to favor"). Related: Congratulated; congratulating; congratulable.
-ory adjective and noun suffix, "having to do with, characterized by, tending to, place for," from Middle English -orie, from Old North French -ory, -orie (Old French -oir, -oire), from Latin -orius, -oria, -orium.
Latin adjectives in -orius, according to "An Etymological Dictionary of the French Language," tended to "indicate a quality proper to the action accomplished by the agent; as oratorius from orator; laudatorius from laudator. The neuter of these adjectives was early employed as a substantive, and usually denoted the place of residence of the agent or the instrument that he uses; as praetorium from praetor; dormitorium from dormitor; auditorium, dolatorium.
"These newer words, already frequent under the Empire, became exceedingly numerous at a later time, especially in ecclesiastical and scholastic Latin; as purgatorium, refectorium, laboratorium, observatorium, &c." [transl. G.W. Kitchin, Oxford, 1878]
Latin adjectives in -orius, according to "An Etymological Dictionary of the French Language," tended to "indicate a quality proper to the action accomplished by the agent; as oratorius from orator; laudatorius from laudator. The neuter of these adjectives was early employed as a substantive, and usually denoted the place of residence of the agent or the instrument that he uses; as praetorium from praetor; dormitorium from dormitor; auditorium, dolatorium.
"These newer words, already frequent under the Empire, became exceedingly numerous at a later time, especially in ecclesiastical and scholastic Latin; as purgatorium, refectorium, laboratorium, observatorium, &c." [transl. G.W. Kitchin, Oxford, 1878]
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Definitions of congratulatory
congratulatory (adj.)
expressive of sympathetic pleasure or joy on account of someone's success or good fortune;
the usual congratulatory crowd was conspicuously absent
a congratulatory telegram
Synonyms: gratulatory
Dictionary entries near congratulatory
Congo
congrats
congratulate
congratulation
congratulations
congratulatory
congregate
congregation
congregational
Congregationalist
congress
