What is "gratulatory"

Gratulatory \Grat"u*la*to*ry\, a. [L. gratulatorius.] Expressing gratulation or joy; congratulatory.

The usual groundwork of such gratulatory odes.
--Bp. Horsley.

a. (context archaic English) congratulatory

adj. expressive of sympathetic pleasure or joy on account of someone's success or good fortune; "a congratulatory telegram"; "the usual congratulatory crowd was conspicuously absent"; "a gratulatory address" [syn: congratulatory]