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noun B1 Intermediate Common

facility

fuh-SIL-uh-tee
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Facility (noun) means a building, room or piece of equipment set up and used for a particular activity or service. Example: “The company opened a new research facility outside Boston.”

noun
1
A building, room or piece of equipment set up and used for a particular activity or service.
"The company opened a new research facility outside Boston."
"All waste must be taken to an approved recycling facility."
"The town has a sports facility with a large indoor swimming pool."
2
A service, feature or amenity provided for people to use, often one of several offered together.
"The hotel has excellent facilities for families, including a pool and a crèche."
"The bank offers an overdraft facility to current account holders."
"The campsite has a laundry facility and showers for all guests."
3
formal A natural ability to do something easily and well.
"She has a remarkable facility for languages."
"He plays with a facility that makes the hardest passages look effortless."
"He has a great facility with numbers and solves sums in his head."

How to use facility

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA place built for a particular purpose, or a service you are given the use of.

When to use it

Neutral in the 'building' sense and very common in business and government writing. The 'natural ability' sense is formal and mostly literary.

Memory tip

In the plural, facilities usually means the toilets in British public signage, so 'Where are the facilities?' is a polite way of asking for the loo.

Trace the full origin ↓
Easily confused with
faculty → utility → amenity →
Common pairings
medical facility storage facility state-of-the-art facility facilities management credit facility
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The company opened a new research _____ outside Boston.

Etymology

From Latin facilitas 'easiness', from facilis 'easy', from facere 'to do, to make'. The 'ease, skill' sense came into English first; the 'building or amenity' sense developed later.

Origin: Latin

Synonyms

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installation complex premises plant centre amenity provision service convenience aptitude knack flair

Antonyms

effort labor awkwardness difficulty

Related words

power side service heart middle simple center centre

Rhymes for facility

city deity acuity parity brevity opacity paucity ability quality reality annuity gravity
See all rhymes for facility →

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a facility and a faculty?
A facility is a place or a service, such as a training facility or sports facilities. A faculty is either a mental power, like the faculty of speech, or a department of a university and the staff who teach in it. The two are unrelated in meaning despite sounding similar.
Does facilities always mean the toilets?
No. In general use, facilities means whatever equipment, rooms or services are available, such as conference facilities or cooking facilities. It is only a polite word for toilets in certain contexts, usually spoken British English.
What does credit facility mean?
In finance, a facility is an arrangement under which a lender agrees to make money available to a borrower, such as an overdraft or a revolving credit line. The borrower can draw on it as needed rather than receiving a single lump sum.
What is the meaning of facility?
"facility" (noun) means a building, room or piece of equipment set up and used for a particular activity or service.

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