Etymology From Latin fēlicitātus, perfect passive participle of fēlīcitō (“to felicitate”) (from fēlīx (“happy”)), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Compare French féliciter.
1
To congratulate.
[…]we contemplate death under quite a different aspect;—creating in us such sweet influences of joy, that our beloved brethren, under one common Father, have attained what we ought all to be in search of, the heavenly goal, that rather than repine at this their advancement, we sincerely felicitate them.1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter XV, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 196:
[…] he waddled to the platform, bowed as low as his belly would permit, and was duly decorated and felicitated […]1934 October, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], “Chapter 25”, in Burmese Days, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, →OCLC:
1 more example
Still, he tucked in handsomely to bacon and tomato on fried bread, felicitating himself on the considered wisdom of his arrival in the character of guest to Bradly.1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 74:
I am alone felicitate / In your dear highness' love.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]: