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

Concerns about what are called special-purpose vehicles that facilitate such investments are top of mind following SpaceX’s offering and ahead of anticipated IPOs from AI companies Anthropic and OpenAI.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

These people, for the reasons already given, can open the way to that dominion and facilitate your victory.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

"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 company’s platform facilitates the digital ads that surround mobile apps, especially games.

From Barron's ● May 6, 2026

For the plant the change is highly disadvantageous, but it facilitates harvest by humans—the grain waits on the stem to be collected.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

In correspondence previously provided to the BBC, the Met said: "The live investigation into those who could have facilitated or enabled Mohamed Al Fayed's offending continues."

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

The new-found reach of these profiles, facilitated by Instagram's algorithms, opens them up to a wider pool of paying clients.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

The call was facilitated by Trent Morse, a lobbyist who previously worked as a senior White House personnel official and is now working for Taylor Farms, according to a person familiar with the outreach.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

Sachdeva highlights the Korean retail investors ploughing capital into U.S. equities and a similar pattern in Japan, facilitated by the Nippon Individual Savings Account scheme.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026

Our desks were arranged in a U shape because Ms. McCrea said that being able to see each other facilitated discussion.

From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan

"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

Qatar, which has played a vital role in facilitating negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, condemned the attack on its tanker as “unacceptable.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

Writing empowered European societies by facilitating political administration and economic exchanges, motivating and guiding exploration and conquest, and making available a range of information and human experience extending into remote places and times.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Related Words

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