felicitate

<font size="-1" face="arial, helvetica"> <p> <strong> <font color="#000066">Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 10, 2021 is:</font> </strong> </p> <p> <strong>felicitate</strong> &#149; \fih-LISS-uh-tayt\&nbsp; &#149; <em>verb</em><br /> <p><strong>1</strong> <em>archaic</em> <strong>:</strong> to make happy</p> <p><strong>2 a :</strong> to consider happy or fortunate</p> <p><strong>b :</strong> to offer congratulations to</p> </p> <p> <strong>Examples:</strong><br /> <p>"Recently, the United Nations recognised Sasmita’s [Sasmita Lenka, a divisional forest officer] efforts and <em>felicitated</em> her with the Asia Environment Enforcement Awards 2020 under the 'gender leadership' and 'impact' category." — <a href="https://www.thebetterindia.com/248647/ifs-hero-sasmita-lenka-odisha-pangolin-trafficking-international-illegal-trade-athagarh-endangered-species-iucn-red-list-him16/">Himanshu Nitnaware, <em>The Better India</em> (Bangalore, India), 3 Feb. 2021</a></p> <p>"Jenny had, by her learning, increased her own pride … and now, instead of respect and adoration, she gained nothing but hatred and abuse by her finery. The whole parish declared she could not come honestly by such things; and parents, instead of wishing their daughters the same, <em>felicitated</em> themselves that their children had them not." — <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=pL4NAAAAQAAJ&amp;pg=PA18">Henry Fielding, <em>The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling</em>, 1749</a></p> </p> <p> <strong>Did you know?</strong><br /> <p><em>Felix</em>, a Latin adjective meaning "happy" or "fruitful," is the root of the English words <em><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/felicity">felicity</a></em> and <em>felicitate</em>. The former, which is by far the more common of the pair, refers to the state of being happy or to something that makes people happy; like <em>felix</em> itself, it's also used as a name. <em>Felicitate</em> has always played second fiddle to it