facilitate

[ fuh-sil-i-teyt ]

/ fəˈsɪl ɪˌteɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR facilitate ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), fa·cil·i·tat·ed, fa·cil·i·tat·ing.

to make easier or less difficult; help forward (an action, a process, etc.): Careful planning facilitates any kind of work.

to assist the progress of (a person).

Nearby words

Origin of facilitate

First recorded in 1605–15; facilit(y) + -ate¹

Related formsfa·cil·i·ta·tive, adjectiveun·fa·cil·i·tat·ed, adjective

Can be confusedfacile facilitate facility felicitate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for facilitate

Spiritual gurus who use their power to facilitate sexual encounters with their students are something of a cliché.
Australia’s Underage Yoga Sex Cult: The Survivors Speak Out|Lizzie Crocker|December 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Not all hospices will agree to facilitate self-dehydration, so Schwarz refers patients to those that will.
The Nurse Coaching People Through Death by Starvation|Nick Tabor|November 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Sicilian seaports that will facilitate the shipment have already stepped up security measures, especially on incoming vessels.
Italy Steps Up Security Over Alleged ISIS Plot to Kill The Pope|Barbie Latza Nadeau|August 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The research will be used to make advances in robotic technology and facilitate smoother interactions between humans and robots.
Japan's Robots Are Reading Your Emotions|Angela Erika Kubo, Jake Adelstein|August 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Aware of the constant phone surveillance, Escobar raised carrier pigeons to facilitate secure communication.
Pablo Escobar’s Private Prison Is Now Run by Monks for Senior Citizens|Jeff Campagna|June 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The yardstick, the half bushel, and the coining of money are all devices to facilitate exchanges.
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 9 (of 12)|Robert G. Ingersoll
I do hope this will facilitate your Department's investigations.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 159, October 13, 1920|Various
On coming to Sicily they attacked Lilybæum and undertook to fill up a portion of the ditch to facilitate bringing up the engines.
Dio's Rome, Volume 1 (of 6)|Cassius Dio
To facilitate this object, he sent me a box of clothing, to make up for myself and the children.
Roughing it in the Bush|Susanna Moodie
And this investigation, so far from interrupting, will facilitate our examination of the history of the nobler arts.
Ariadne Florentina|John Ruskin

British Dictionary definitions for facilitate

facilitate

/ (fəˈsɪlɪˌteɪt) /

verb

(tr) to make easier; assist the progress of

Derived Formsfacilitative, adjectivefacilitator, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for facilitate