facilitate
fuh-SIL-ih-tayt
/fəˈsɪlɪteɪt/
To make an action or process easy or easier; to help run smoothly.
Focuses on removing obstacles and creating the right environment for others to succeed, rather than doing the work directly.
The story behind the word. Derived from the French 'faciliter', which comes from the Latin 'facilis', meaning 'easy' or 'easy to do' (itself from 'facere', meaning 'to make or do'). To facilitate is literally 'to make easy.'
Word relationships
- ease: Ease means to reduce difficulty or pain, while facilitate specifically refers to structuring a process to make it run more efficiently.
- assist: Assist means to help someone directly with their work, whereas facilitate means to set up the conditions that make the overall work easier.
- hinder: Hinder means to create obstacles or delay progress, whereas facilitate means to remove obstacles.
Commonly confused with
- simplify: Simplify means to make something less complex, whereas facilitate means to make the execution of a process smoother, regardless of its complexity.
Word family
- facilitator (noun): A person who helps a group understand their common objectives and assists them in planning.
- facilitation (noun): The act of making a process easier.
Collocations
- facilitate communication
- facilitate growth
- facilitate a meeting
- facilitate learning
Example sentences
- "The teacher's role is to facilitate discussion among the students, not to dominate the conversation." A report on classroom dynamics.
- "The new digital platform was designed to facilitate faster collaboration between international teams." A business proposal for a new workflow.
Memory hook
To facilitate is to make things 'facile' (easy) for others. Facilitate: Make it easy to do.
When not to use
Do not use when you are performing the entire task yourself. You facilitate a process so that others can complete it more easily.
Fun facts
- The term 'facilitator' emerged in the mid-20th century alongside the rise of humanistic psychology and collaborative business management styles.
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