facilitate

facilitate — verb

1. to help a process, event, or activity happen more smoothly or with less difficul

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to help a process, event, or activity happen more smoothly or with less difficulty

Example

The new software facilitates direct communication between the Taipei and London offices.

facilitate + noun phrase (communication between groups)

Faisal's translation skills facilitated the negotiations between the Japanese and Mexican teams.

facilitate + noun (negotiations between parties)

Common collocations
  • facilitate communication
  • facilitate discussion
  • facilitate access
  • facilitate growth
  • facilitate development
  • facilitate the transition
  • facilitate learning
Synonyms
  • enable

    emphasises providing the means for something to happen; more concrete, while 'facilitate' emphasises making a process run more smoothly

  • ease

    less formal, focuses on reducing difficulty or discomfort

  • expedite

    more specific; focuses on speeding up a process rather than reducing general difficulty

  • assist

    broader in application; can take a person or a process as its object

Antonyms
  • hinder

    to make a process difficult or slow

  • impede

    to delay or block progress, more formal register

Grammar Patterns

facilitate + noun phrase

Usage Note

The object of 'facilitate' is always a process, event, activity, or abstract thing — never a person. You facilitate a meeting or a discussion, but you do NOT 'facilitate someone.'

Common Mistakes

Can you facilitate me with this problem?
Can you help me with this problem?
'facilitate' cannot take a person as its direct object; use 'help' or 'assist' for people.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All five words relate to making something easier, but they differ in scope and formality. 'Facilitate' is the broadest and most formal, focusing on making a process run more smoothly (e.g. 'The new system facilitated the workflow'). 'Enable' emphasises providing the necessary means or ability, often with a concrete result (e.g. 'The grant enabled her to finish her research'). 'Ease' is less formal and focuses on reducing physical or mental burden ('The massage eased his back pain'). 'Expedite' specifically means to speed up, usually in bureaucratic or logistical contexts ('The manager expedited the visa application'). 'Assist' is the most general and can take either a person or a process as its object ('The assistant assisted the team with the project').

facilitate ↗enable ↗ease ↗expediteassist ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • greatly facilitate
  • further facilitate
  • thereby facilitate

Phrases

  • facilitate the process of
  • facilitate access to
  • facilitate the exchange of

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

'Facilitate' comes from the Latin word 'facilis', meaning 'easy', which in turn comes from 'facere', meaning 'to do' or 'to make'. It entered English in the early 1600s through French ('faciliter'), and originally carried the sense of making something easy to do.