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

• overfacility
  noun
• nonfacility
  noun

Inflected Forms

noun

• 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

He argued that renovations could not be completed while the facility remains open and said the administration had hoped to transform the center into “the Finest Facility of its kind, anywhere in the World.”

From Salon • May 30, 2026

At least six people have died in ICE custody in California since the start of 2025 — four at Adelanto and two at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility.

From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026

Taxonomists identified the collected specimens, which are now stored permanently in the WA Museum's Collection and Research Facility to support future research.

From Science Daily • May 14, 2026

She and Maduro are now held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Facility, known for housing other celebrity inmates such as FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026

Once there, it was moved to the JPL Spacecraft Assembly Facility.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

Related Words

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