Definition
To facilitate is to make a thing easier to do — from the Latin facilis, 'easy', and the precise opposite of impede: where impeding ties weights to the feet, facilitating clears the road ahead of them. Teachers facilitate discussions, enzymes facilitate reactions, new bridges facilitate trade. The word's quiet discipline is that the facilitator never does the thing itself; it removes what would have slowed the doing — often so smoothly that the people helped never notice anyone was working.
Examples
- The new tunnel facilitated trade that the mountain passes had impeded for centuries.
- A good moderator facilitates the discussion without steering its conclusions.
- The app facilitates communication between patients and their doctors.
Collocations
facilitate trade·facilitate communication·facilitate the process·facilitate learning·greatly facilitate
Synonyms
ease·enable·smooth·expedite·assist
Antonyms
Word family
facilitation (noun)·facilitator (noun)
In TOEFL & IELTS
Pure academic register: TOEFL passages use it for enzymes, institutions, and trade routes, and the noun 'facilitator' names a person whose entire job is this verb. In IELTS essays, 'measures that facilitate access to education' lifts any solution paragraph. The pairing to memorize is facilitate vs. impede — reading questions test them as opposites, and this site keeps both a click apart.