Etymologically
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facilitate

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /fəˈsɪl.ɪ.teɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French faciliter (“to make easy”),[2][3][4] from Italian facilitare,[3][4] from facilità, ease, Latin facilitās (see facility),[3] from facilis, easy to do, from facere, to do (see facile),[2][4] with the English ending -ate.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make an action or process easier: 1611 in the OED, the 1610s in Etymonline.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

To help a person, lessen their labour, is from 1646.[5] In physiology, to strengthen a nerve response or make it more likely is from 1906.[5]

Timeline

  • 1611 – to make easier.[5]
  • 1646 – to assist a person.[5]
  • 1906 – in physiology.[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To make easier; to help the progress of.

Word family

  • facilitative
  • facilitator

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press