facilitate

American  

[fuh-sil-i-teyt] / fəˈsɪl ɪˌteɪt /

verb (used with object)

• facilitates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• facilitated,
  past participle,  past
• facilitating
  present participle

1. to make easier or less difficult; help forward (an action, a process, etc.).

   Careful planning facilitates any kind of work.

2. to lead or moderate (a discussion, workshop, etc.), especially as a person trained to do so.

   An instructor will facilitate the online discussions, providing students with the questions beforehand.

3. to assist the progress of (a person).

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facilitate British  

/ fəˈsɪlɪˌteɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to make easier; assist the progress of

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• facilitator
  noun
• facilitative
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• facilitating
  present
• facilitated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• facilitate
  simple
• facilitates
  simple
• have facilitated
  perfect
• has facilitated
  perfect
• am facilitating
  progressive
• are facilitating
  progressive
• is facilitating
  progressive
• have been facilitating
  perfect progressive
• has been facilitating
  perfect progressive

Past

• facilitated
  simple
• had facilitated
  perfect
• was facilitating
  progressive
• were facilitating
  progressive
• had been facilitating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will facilitate
  simple
• will have facilitated
  perfect
• will be facilitating
  progressive
• will have been facilitating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of facilitate

First recorded in 1605–15; facilit(y) + -ate ¹

Explanation

To facilitate means to make something easier. If your best friend is very shy, you could facilitate her efforts to meet new people. Facilitate comes from the Latin facilis, for "easy." It means to make something easier or more likely to happen. You facilitate growth or a process, as opposed to, say, dinner. Often in business meetings someone will be assigned to facilitate a discussion so people don't just sit in awkward silence. Synonyms are ease, simplify, expedite, and assist.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

facilitate facilitates facilitated facilitating

Roads can also facilitate the spread of flammable invasive grasses and other fire fuels.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

When the BBC’s legal team did exactly that, Secret Service counsel Troy Epstein flatly declared the agency was neither authorized to accept service on the family’s behalf nor willing to help facilitate it.

From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026

I say all this not to apologize for the people movers, but to facilitate a sense of closure for the D.C. metro area as we approach the people mover’s demise.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

"We are working hard behind the scenes to try and make sure that we can facilitate regular child maintenance payments," he said.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

There was even a train system to facilitate transporting the miners from the Nut to the very center of the main town in District 2.

From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins

"However, our data show that water mainly facilitates mantle melting. The key factor for high gold concentrations is the high - and in part repeated - degree of melting."

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

Getting rid of the physical disc also facilitates distribution by reducing supply-chain hiccups and the possibility of a premature leak.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026

It’s part of the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, an international organization that facilitates college courses taught inside prisons, with half the seats filled by incarcerated students and half by students from outside.

From Slate ● May 27, 2026

The updated accord facilitates trade in auto parts, a sector particularly affected by Trump's tariffs.

From Barron's ● May 22, 2026

Usually, linguistic change is a crucial marker of a modification in the way in which people think—it both facilitates that change and makes it easier for us to recognize it.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

On top of the purchase price, FSG have since facilitated intra-group loans of about £218m, meaning a total outlay of about £518m.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

From the director of ‘Tiger King,’ a new docuseries examines the cold-blooded, illegal trade in lizards and the like in the 1980s and the lives of those who facilitated it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

On Monday, Upstart reported that it had facilitated roughly $1.4 billion in total preliminary loan originations across 27.4 effective origination days, which averages out to $51 million per day.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026

The investigation into individuals who may have facilitated or enabled offending by Al Fayed has been described by the Met as one of its "largest and most complex".

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

Having sympathetic warders facilitated one of our most vital tasks on Robben Island: communication.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

"We are committed to facilitating appropriate consideration of the use of character references following conviction, acknowledging that there will be a broad range of views. "

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

"Releasing her in particular would go a long way to facilitating Myanmar's re-invitation at the political level," Michaels said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026

Trying facilitating a frank conversation about what needs to be in order.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

Her staff has been facilitating a conversation with people at Universal Studios and has found them to be “very willing partners,” said Helen Chavez Garcia, Barger’s communications director.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

It is at this point—and at only this point—that we can say that the work of Galileo and his pupils on water flow had finally paid off by facilitating a markedly improved practical technology.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• aid
• ease
• expedite
• further
• help
• promote
• simplify
• speed