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

Etymology

Origin of facility

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

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

"If this plant really were shut down, you could put a big black spot on the map," Martin Lehmann, who has worked at the Zwickau facility since 2012, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

The facility is the first dedicated landing pad at the White House.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

Amid statues and posters of the Virgen de Guadalupe was a rosary that a man had made of hardened bread during his months in an immigration detention facility.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

U.S. companies and their foreign supplies would have a favored place under the agreement with Saudi Arabia and would run a potential enrichment facility, squeezing out the Russians and the Chinese, U.S. officials say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

The old abandoned radar facility that looked like two giant golf balls.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

The health facilities in the areas of the attacks had to close for weeks while the authorities launched public awareness campaigns to counter the claims.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

“I don’t … I wouldn’t call it a war,” Vance said, claiming that major combat operations lasted for about six weeks and destroyed Iran’s nuclear facilities.

From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2026

The company in August said it was restructuring its beef network around three facilities in the central U.S. to address the cattle shortage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

The block that the man was found in is in an industrial area with shipping facilities and a train yard.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

The Marion County jail had no sanitary facilities for women.

From "Fannie Never Flinched" by Mary Cronk Farrell

Related Words

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