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.

---

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

---

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

Now we have to wait until next Saturday or Sunday, and hope that from here until then, he hasn’t been moved to a different facility, and we didn’t miss our chance to see him.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2026

The water supplier to around 2.3 million customers in the south east of England said it was in discussions with lenders to agree a new loan facility.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

"I don't know of any other center in the world that trains exorcists," Syquia said of the two-storey facility built largely with donations from local families of the previously afflicted.

From Barron's ● Jul. 19, 2026

He said her Houston treatment center is a premier facility, and “for California to opine that it’s not good enough for us” is a strange concept.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026

The new facility included black doctors and nurses on staff at a time when many white hospitals turned them away.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

LXP Industrial owns a portfolio of modern warehouse and logistics facilities across the U.S., comprising approximately 53 million square feet across 108 properties in markets including the Sunbelt and Midwest.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

The leak was from GKN Aerospace facilities that makes canopies for F-35 fighter jets.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2026

With coordination and communication, facilities like cooling centres can be fashioned in other parts of the US not accustomed to the scorching heat, Marlon says.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

Japan, with some of the most densely populated cities among advanced economies -- 80 percent of the country is mountains -- has a particular problem: a shortage of suitable urban space to build the facilities.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

“There’s no privacy. No proper toilets or kitchens. No facilities for a growing family.”

From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell

Related Words

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