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

• 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

That second point will be harder to read than the CoreWeave facility.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

"One industrial facility has been damaged. All relevant services are on site, working to extinguish the fire," he added.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

At Hungary’s Paks plant, which generates about 40% of the country’s electricity, water shortages have put the facility on the threshold of a shutdown.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

About 100 firefighters are tackling a massive blaze at a waste facility in south-east London.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Part of her training has occurred at the simulation and training facility at Johnson Space Center.

From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson

Moscow said it hit "military-industrial facilities, a transportation and logistics centre, and warehouses" in Kyiv and its region.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

The nearly 30-year-old legal agreement ensures minimum standards for housing, education and medical care for migrant kids in federal custody, as well limits on how long they can be held in government facilities.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order Tuesday placing strict guardrails on new data centers, joining several states that are moving to limit the facilities fueling artificial intelligence’s rise.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Again, many of these facilities sit unused, but they remain a threat, as they are still owned by the federal government.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

Just one-third of white youths were sentenced to adult or juvenile state correctional facilities in 2012, while two-thirds were given probation or sentenced to serve time in county jails.

From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater

Related Words

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