facility

American  

[fuh-sil-i-tee] / fəˈsɪl ɪ ti /

noun

• facilities
  plural

1. Often facilities

   1. something designed, built, installed, etc., to serve a specific function affording a convenience or service.

      transportation facilities;

      educational facilities;

      a new research facility.

   2. something that permits the easier performance of an action, course of conduct, etc..

      to provide someone with every facility for accomplishing a task;

      to lack facilities for handling bulk mail.

2. readiness or ease due to skill, aptitude, or practice; dexterity.

   to compose with great facility.

3. ready compliance.

   Her facility in organizing and directing made her an excellent supervisor.

4. an easy-flowing manner.

   facility of style.

5. the quality of being easily or conveniently done or performed.

6. Informal. Often facilities a restroom, especially one for use by the public, as in a theater or restaurant.

7. freedom from difficulty, controversy, misunderstanding, etc..

   facility of understanding.

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facility British  

/ fəˈsɪlɪtɪ /

noun

1. ease of action or performance; freedom from difficulty

2. ready skill or ease deriving from practice or familiarity

3. (often plural) the means or equipment facilitating the performance of an action

4. rare easy-going disposition

5. military an organization or building offering supporting capability

6. (usually plural) a euphemistic word for lavatory

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonfacility
  noun
• overfacility
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• facilities
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of facility

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English facilite, from Middle French or directly from Latin facilitās; see facile, -ity

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Explanation

Facility is a noun with several different meanings. Often, as in "storage facility," it's a place designed for a specific use, but it can also mean an effortlessness or ease with something. The new stadium is a great facility for showing off Olympic winter sports. At this level, all of the ice skaters show a facility that borders on magical. Likewise, the prison is a great facility for storing prisoners. Those prisoners showed a real facility for crime. Related to the French facile, which means "easy," a person who shows a facility for something makes it seem easy. This is cool, especially if that thing is difficult — or, as the French might say, difficile.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

facility facilities

The new 15,000-square-foot facility will have the capacity to build tens of thousands of aircraft each year and create up to 100 jobs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

The former Exide facility in Vernon spewed toxic dust for decades as it melted down lead-acid car batteries for recycling.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026

At the Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health building, scientists and medical professionals work together in the same facility.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026

In 2025, the company moved into a new purpose-built, 116,000 sq ft facility, external at Indurent Park in Newport.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

We would love it if she could come to our facility here in Mumbai and give a talk on her experiences being a young Indian-American filmmaker in the States.

From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon

In preparation for their arrival, Zoo Atlanta has renovated its panda facilities and assembled a team of animal caretakers.

From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2026

This fall, a wave of protests first initiated by high-school students demanding improved facilities led to a nationwide breakdown in law and order on Oct.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

New power plants have driven up electric rates and the facilities create noise pollution.

From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026

The death chamber was taken down and all but a handful of the remaining condemned inmates were relocated from segregated housing in San Quentin to other facilities across the state after Newsom’s 2019 moratorium.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026

It alone had not seriously expanded its productive facilities, or offered anything radically new to human culture.

From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov

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Related Words

• accommodation
• amenity
• equipment
• material
• resource
• tool

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