different between proficient vs facile

English

Etymology

From Latin proficiens, present participle of proficere (“to go forward, advance, make progress, succeed, be profitable or useful”), from pro (“forth, forward”) + facere (“to make, do”); see fact.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p???f??.?nt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /p?o??f??.?nt/, /p???f??.?nt/
• Rhymes: -???nt

Adjective

proficient (comparative more proficient, superlative most proficient)

1. Good at something; skilled; fluent; practiced, especially in relation to a task or skill.

   He was a proficient writer with an interest in human nature.

   • 1912: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, Chapter 5

     By constant playing and experimenting with these he learned to tie rude knots, and make sliding nooses; and with these he and the younger apes amused themselves. What Tarzan did they tried to do also, but he alone originated and became proficient.

Synonyms

• (good at): skilled, fluent, practiced

Translations

Noun

proficient (plural proficients)

1. An expert.
   • 1924, Herman Melville, Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co., Chapter 10, [1]

     Why not subpoena as well the clerical proficients?

Synonyms

• (expert): expert; see also Thesaurus:skilled person

Translations

Related terms

• profit
• profitability
• profitable
• profiteer
• proficiency

Further reading

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

Latin

Verb

pr?ficient

1. third-person plural future active indicative of pr?fici?

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French facile, from Latin facilis (“easy to do, easy, doable”), from faci? (“I do, make”). Compare Spanish fácil ("easy").

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?fa.s??l/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?fæ.s?l/

Adjective

facile (comparative more facile, superlative most facile)

1. Easy, now especially in a disparaging sense; contemptibly easy. [from 15th c.]
   • , vol.I, New York, 2001, p.243:

     as he that is benumbed with cold sits shaking, that might relieve himself with a little exercise or stirring, do they complain, but will not use the facile and ready means to do themselves good […].

2. (now rare) Amiable, flexible, easy to get along with. [from 16th c.]

   His facile disposition made him many friends.

3. Effortless, fluent (of work, abilities etc.). [from 17th c.]
   • 1932, Duff Cooper, Talleyrand, Folio Society 2010, p. 54:

     we can learn the impression that he made upon a stranger and a foreigner at this period, thanks to the facile pen of Fannu Burney.

   • 1974, Graham Greene, The Honorary Consul, Pocket Books, New York, p.54:

     "Discipline," Jorge Julio Saavedra was repeating, "is more necessary to me than to other more facile writers.

   • 1990, Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game, Folio Society 2010, p. 372:

     A facile and persuasive writer, he also turned out countless newspaper articles on Russian aims in Central Asia and how best these could be thwarted.

4. Lazy, simplistic (especially of explanations, discussions etc.). [from 19th c.]
   • 2012, Chris Huhne, The Guardian, 3 May 2012:

     There is a facile view that our green commitments – to tackling climate change, avoiding air and water pollution, protecting natural habitats – are an obstacle to growth. The message of the commodity markets is surely different.

5. (chemistry) Of a reaction or other process, taking place readily.

   Decarboxylation of beta-keto acids is facile...

Synonyms

• (skillful): See also Thesaurus:skillful

Related terms

• facilitation
• facilitative
• facilitate
• facilitator
• facilitatory
• facility

Translations

• Kyrgyz: ????? (ky) (ceñil), ??? ????? (ky) (til alg?ç), ?????? (ky) (köngüç), ????? (ky) (elpek)

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• fecial

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fa?tsi.le/

Adverb

facile

1. easily

Antonyms

• malfacile (“with difficulty”)

Related terms

• facila (“easy”)
• facili (“to be easy”)

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin facilis (“easy”), from faci? (“I do, make”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fa.sil/
• Homophone: faciles
• Hyphenation: fa?cile

Adjective

facile (plural faciles)

1. easy, simple

   Antonym: difficile (“difficult”)

2. (derogatory, chiefly of women) easy, promiscuous (consenting readily to sex)

Usage notes

The preposition de is used with an impersonal subject, and à with a non-impersonal one.

Derived terms

• avoir la gâchette facile
• fille facile
• plus facile à dire qu'à faire

Related terms

• faire

Further reading

• “facile” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• ficela

Interlingua

Adjective

facile (comparative plus facile, superlative le plus facile)

1. easy

Antonyms

• difficile

Italian

Etymology

From Latin facilis (“easy”), from faci? (“I do, make”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fa.t??i.le/
• Rhymes: -at?ile

Adjective

facile (plural facili)

1. easy
2. cosy
3. effortless

Derived terms

• facilmente

Related terms

• facilità
• facilitare
• facilone
• fare

Anagrams

• cefali
• fecali

Latin

Etymology 1

From the neuter accusative case form of facilis.

Alternative forms

• facul (anteclass.)

Adverb

facile (comparative facilius, superlative facillim?)

1. easily

   Synonym: faciliter

Etymology 2

Adjective

facile

1. nominative neuter singular of facilis
2. accusative neuter singular of facilis
3. vocative neuter singular of facilis

References

• facile in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• facile in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book?^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.

Middle French

Etymology

1441, borrowed from Latin facilis.

Adjective

facile m or f (plural faciles)

1. easy (not difficult)

References