Facilitating

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Helping a process or activity to happen more smoothly or easily
2. Making it easier or less complicated for something to proceed or be accomplished
3. Assisting in the efficient progress or achievement of a task or event

Etymology: "Facilitating" is the present participle of "facilitate", so its history is that of the verb. The verb was formed in English from the French "faciliter", which was itself built on the Latin adjective "facilis", meaning "easy" or "doable". The Latin word has a surprisingly physical core: "facilis" is linked to "facere", "to make or do", so the idea behind it is something that can be done without much effort. English took the French verb and added the "-ate" ending, a suffix that turns nouns and adjectives into verbs, as in "activate" or "regulate". The result is a verb that means to make something easier to accomplish. Its sense has stayed close to that original idea: to clear obstacles from a path so that a process can move forward, whether that path is a meeting, a transaction, or a negotiation.

Synonyms: enabling, assisting, promoting

Antonyms: hindering, obstructing