felicitation
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
- self-felicitation noun
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
Recalling with pleasure our meeting on the occasion of your recent visit to the United States, I wish to take this occasion to send you a personal message of felicitation and good wishes.
From Time Magazine Archive
Democratic Floor Leader Garrett made a speech of felicitation.
From Time Magazine Archive
For with the commotion of the guests in the several orders of their going, a serious business of felicitation and devoir was demanded alongside of which all other matters only served as distractions.
From The Loyalist A Story of the American Revolution by Barrett, James Francis
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.
