What are the differences in meaning among 'aid', 'assist', 'help', and 'facilitate'?

Solution 1:

I agree with Jonathan's answer. Some addendum:

• 'Facilitate' is often used in situations where material help is provided.
• 'Aid' is used in cases where the person receiving help is in dire need of it.

Solution 2:

Facilitate is to provide the means necessary for something to happen.

Help is to do anything that makes something easier for a person.

Assist is to add your efforts to someone else's.

Aid has to do with things like healing, bringing someone up, and less of making something easier. More like a mix between helping and assistance.

Solution 3:

I think it might help to look at the origins of the words to understand the differences between them.

Help has Germanic origins and was used in a broad manner of senses that we tend to understand in common usage.

Aid has Old French origins, the Latin root means "to help" as in the broad Germanic sense.

Assist has Middle French origins, the Latin root means "to take one's stand" and can probably be understood to mean standing by one's side in support.

Facilitate has Latin origins in that "Facilis" refers to ease as in easy and the Modern French conjugation "Faciliter" which means to make easy. Note Facile which means "easily accomplished."

I have ordered the words in the sequence they entered the English language; typically, older words tend to have a more common usage whereas newer words tend to be used to "sound smarter" rather than to mean something different. Thus, "I need help with something" and "this task requires external facilitation" mean pretty much the same thing, but the latter sounds snootier.