CONGRATULATE
compliment, congratulate
(verb) say something to someone that expresses praise; “He complimented her on her last physics paper”
congratulate, felicitate
(verb) express congratulations
preen, congratulate
(verb) pride or congratulate (oneself) for an achievement
pride, plume, congratulate
(verb) be proud of; “He prides himself on making it into law school”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
congratulate (third-person singular simple present congratulates, present participle congratulating, simple past and past participle congratulated)
To express one’s sympathetic pleasure or joy to the person(s) it is felt for.
(reflexive) To consider oneself fortunate in some matter.
Source: Wiktionary
Con*grat"u*late, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Congratulated; p.pr. & vb.n.
Congratulating.] Etym: [L. congratulatus, p.p. of congratulari to
wish joy abundantly; con- + gratulari to wish joy, from gratus
pleasing. See Grateful.]
Definition: To address with expressions of sympathetic pleasure on account
of some happy event affecting the person addressed; to wish joy to.
It is the king's most sweet pleasure and affection to congratulate
the princess at her pavilion. Shak.
To congratulate one's self, to rejoice; to feel satisfaction; to
consider one's self happy or fortunate.
Syn.
– To Congratulate, Felicitate. To felicitate is simply to wish a
person joy. To congratulate has the additional signification of
uniting in the joy of him whom we congratulate. Hence they are by no
means synonymous. One who has lost the object of his affections by
her marriage to a rival, might perhaps felicitate that rival on his
success, but could never be expected to congratulate him on such an
event.
Felicitations are little better than compliments; congratulations are
the expression of a genuine sympathy and joy. Trench.
Con*grat"u*late, v. i.
Definition: To express of feel sympathetic joy; as, to congratulate with
one's country. [R.] Swift.
The subjects of England may congratulate to themselves. Dryden.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition