gratulationes

Gratulationes is a Latin noun meaning “congratulations” or “felicitations.” It is the plural form of gratulatio and is used to refer to expressions of good wishes offered to someone on a special occasion. The verb gratulari, from which gratulatio is formed, is connected with grat- meaning pleasing or welcome, reflecting the act of congratulating.

In classical Latin texts, gratulationes could denote either the act of congratulating or the set of congratulatory expressions themselves, such as spoken greetings, written messages, or public praise given to celebrate an achievement, birthday, victory, or appointment. The term appears across various contexts, from personal letters to public orations, and it can serve to describe ceremonial or social gestures of goodwill.

In ecclesiastical and later Neo-Latin usage, gratulationes continued to appear in discussions of formal expressions of goodwill and homage. The term is also encountered in lexicographic and philological works as an example of Latin vocabulary related to social ritual and ceremonial language.

Today, gratulationes is usually translated into English as “congratulations.” The singular gratulatio denotes the act or gesture of congratulating, while related terms in Latin for similar ideas include those forming the broader family of felicitations in the scholarly tradition.

See also: gratulatio; salutatio; congratulation (in English).