different between facility vs potentiality

English

Etymology

From Middle French facilité, and its source, Latin facilit?s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f??s?l?ti/
• Rhymes: -?l?ti

Noun

facility (countable and uncountable, plural facilities)

1. The fact of being easy, or easily done; absence of difficulty, simplicity. [from 16th c.]
2. Dexterity of speech or action; skill, talent. [from 16th c.]

   The facility she shows in playing the violin is unrivalled.

3. The physical means or contrivances to make something (especially a public service) possible; the required equipment, infrastructure, location etc. [from 19th c.]

   Transport facilities in Bangkok are not sufficient to prevent frequent traffic collapses during rush hour.
4. An institution specially designed for a specific purpose, such as incarceration, military use, or scientific experimentation.
5. (Canada, US, in the plural) A toilet. [from 20th c.]
6. (Scotland, law) A condition of mental weakness less than idiocy, but enough to make a person easily persuaded to do something against their better interest.
7. (dated) Affability.

Derived terms

• correctional facility

Translations

English

Etymology

potential +? -ity

Noun

potentiality (countable and uncountable, plural potentialities)

1. The quality of being, or having potential.
2. An inherent capacity for growth or development.
3. An aptitude amenable to development; capability.
4. (philosophy) A possibility or capacity to be something, as opposed to an actuality describing what something actually is at present.
5. (physics) Quantum potential.

Related terms

• potence
• potency
• potent
• potentate
• potential

Further reading

• potentiality in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• potentiality in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.