felicitation
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of felicitation
First recorded in 1700–10; felicitate + -ion
Explanation
A felicitation is when you congratulate someone. Your best friend might express his felicitation on your birthday by giving you flowers. You'll almost always see the noun felicitation in its plural form, felicitations. In fact, when your neighbors announce their upcoming marriage, you can say, "Felicitations!" just as you might say, "Congratulations!" Either way, you're expressing your good wishes. Felicitation comes from the verb felicitate, which means "congratulate," and has a Latin root, felicitas, "happiness," from felix, "happy or fortunate."
Vocabulary lists containing felicitation
The Age of Innocence
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The Inheritance Games
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Mara, Daughter of the Nile
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Geetha P was travelling from the southern state of Kerala to national capital Delhi to attend a felicitation function for winners of the Florence Nightingale award for nurses.
From BBC • Nov. 9, 2022
Back in the last century only the shoe fabricator or the shoe designer would have been eligible for that kind of felicitation.
From Slate • Aug. 22, 2012
It is certain that Ellen Terry, toward the end of her life, sent messages of felicitation to U. S. admirers.
From Time Magazine Archive
From all parts of Poland�and from almost all sectors of its party structure�came telegrams of felicitation and support.
From Time Magazine Archive
The air was full of laughter and greetings and kisses; light-hearted, offhand, gratulatory kisses which appeared to be the natural currency of felicitation.
From Success A Novel by Adams, Samuel Hopkins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
