English
facility
Facility comes from Middle English facilite, from Middle French facilité, from Latin facilitās ‘ease’, from facilis ‘doable, easy’, from faciō ‘to do’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-1‘to put, do’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁k-2reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰh₁kyéti2reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fakjō2‘to make’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaciō2‘to do, make’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfacilis2‘doable, easy’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfacilitās1‘ease, facility’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600facilité1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500facilite1
- Englishearliest quotation 1603facility1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English facility
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin facilitas
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “Clytomachus affirmed, that he could never understand by the…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁-Wiktionary, English facility‘to put, do’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰeh₁k-Wiktionary, Latin facilitasreconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dʰh₁kyétiWiktionary, Latin facilitasreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*fakjōWiktionary, Latin facilitas‘to make’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaciōWiktionary, Latin facilitas‘to do, make’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfacilisWiktionary, Latin facilitas‘doable, easy’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfacilitāsWiktionary, English facility‘ease, facility’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600facilitéWiktionary, English facility
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500faciliteWiktionary, English facility
- Englishearliest quotation 1603facilityWiktionary, English facility. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “Clytomachus affirmed, that he could never understand by the…”
Equivalent to facile + -ity
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‘to do, put’
Latin facere ‘to do, make’
Latin facilis ‘easy to do, easy, doable’
Middle French facile ‘easy’
English facile
Linked words
through Proto-Italic *θakjō
effectively, effectiveness, ineffective, affectionate, imperfection, putrefaction, 63 more
through Proto-Italic *fakjō ‘to make’
effective, factor, perfection, affection, interface, manufacture, imperfect, faction, affective, defection, facet, defector, effector, affectation, confectionary, deface, 69 more
through Latin faciō ‘to make, construct, fashion, frame, build, erect’
perfect, effect, face, fact, feature, affect, profit, infection, efficient, difficulty, sacrifice, affair, feat, deficit, defect, fetish, efficacy, facial, superficial, infect, counterfeit, deficient, facade, maleficent, beautify, facsimile, confection, hacienda, aficionado, refectory, efficacious, beneficent, parfait, confit, facies, 85 more
through Latin facilis ‘doable, easy’
through Latin facilitās ‘ease, easiness, facility, readiness’
Today it means
noun The physical means or contrivances to make something (especially a public service) possible; the required equipment, infrastructure, location etc.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “facility”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin facilitas. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- / facility