facility

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A building or place provided for a particular purpose or service.

   The town built a new sports facility with a pool and courts.

2. 2
   noun

   A feature of a piece of equipment or service that lets you do something.

   This phone has a facility for storing thousands of photos.

3. 3
   noun

   A natural ability to do something easily and well.

   She has a remarkable facility for learning languages.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Facility comes from Latin facilis, meaning “easy.” In late Middle English it meant “gentleness,” then developed the sense “ease in doing something” in the mid-16th century and “something that makes an activity easier” in the mid-19th century.

From Middle English facilite, from Middle French facilité, and its source, Latin facilitās. By surface analysis, facile + -ity. Doublet of faculty.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary