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

To further increase his chances, Efan was advised to learn Russian because it can help facilitate training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia, according to The European Space Agency.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

Morgan Stanley said it would facilitate $1.5 trillion of capital raising, financing and related investment activity over the next decade.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

“We are there to facilitate it, not to dictate it,” Rubio told reporters on a trip to Asia last week.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026

The Wall Street Journal reports Tesla is considering selling its China business to facilitate a future merger with SpaceX.

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

“I’m here on behalf of the Oakland Police Department to help facilitate a fair exchange of ideas.”

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

"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

But the platforms may still need help from Wall Street institutions, especially when it comes to the financial plumbing the facilitates trades across the world.

From Barron's ● Mar. 24, 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

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

Even Kim Kardashian facilitated a Zoom call with Fauci in April 2020 that drew celebrities ranging from Ariana Grande to Ashton Kutcher and Chris Rock.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Central banks in Japan and China have in the recent past facilitated purchases of domestic stocks via ETFs, Balchunas pointed out.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 11, 2026

Half of its farmland is devoted to labor-intensive, high-yield, irrigated rice agriculture, facilitated by abundant rivers flowing from the wet mountains onto sloping lowland plains.

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

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

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

The removal of the border is therefore expected to have major economic benefits, facilitating the flow of people back and forth, and possibly going some way to redress the imbalance between the two territories.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 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

The lawsuit alleges Ghana is violating domestic and regional law by "facilitating removals to unsafe countries", a statement from the legal coalition said.

From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026

Hubler could make hundreds of millions facilitating the idiocy of Morgan Stanley’s customers.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Related Words

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