Congratulate
Easton’s Bible Dictionary & Webster’s 1828 Dictionary · Matthew George Easton, Noah Webster
Congratulate - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)
CONGRATULATE, v.t. [L., grateful, pleasing. See Grace.] To profess ones pleasure or joy to another on account of an event deemed happy or fortunate, as on the birth of a child, success in an enterprise, victory, escape from danger, _c.; to wish joy to another. We congratulate the nation on the restoration of peace.
Formerly this verb was followed by to. The subjects of England may congratulate to themselves. But this use of to is entirely obsolete. The use of with after this verb, I congratulate with my country, is perhaps less objectionable, but is rarely used. The intransitive sense of the verb may therefore be considered as antiquated, and no longer legitimate.
Source of the article
Matthew George Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary; Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (1828)
Bible Strong combined digital edition