What does expedite mean?
To expedite is to make something happen faster — to accelerate the progress or completion of a process, task, or transaction. The verb is firmly at home in formal settings: government agencies expedite applications, courts expedite proceedings, and shipping companies expedite deliveries. It suggests efficient, purposeful facilitation rather than mere haste, which gives it a positive, businesslike connotation; to say a firm expedited a client's order is to credit it with competence and responsiveness. The word derives from Latin expedire, literally 'to free the feet,' combining ex- ('out') and pes ('foot'), an image of unshackling that neatly captures its sense of removing obstacles to progress. Related words include expedition and expedient, all rooted in that same Latin verb. Though occasionally used archaically to mean 'perform' or 'accomplish,' today expedite almost exclusively means to speed up, making it a precise and useful alternative to vaguer phrases like 'speed things along.'
verbTo expedite is to make a process or action happen more quickly; to speed up the progress or completion of something, especially official or business procedures.
- (of a process, task, or procedure) To make happen or be completed sooner; to accelerate.
- (archaic) To perform or carry out promptly; to dispatch with speed.
"The agency hired extra staff to expedite the processing of visa applications."
"The company expedited the shipment so it would arrive before the holiday."
"A special committee was formed to expedite negotiations between the two parties."
Expedite once meant 'to free someone's feet from shackles' — from Latin ped-, 'foot' — before it started speeding up paperwork instead.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of expedite
Expedite comes from the Latin verb expedire, meaning 'to disentangle, set free, or make ready,' formed from ex- ('out of') plus pes, pedis ('foot') — originally evoking freeing one's feet from fetters. The word entered English in the early 17th century via participial forms of the Latin, initially carrying broader senses of accomplishing or performing a task promptly before narrowing to its modern sense of accelerating a process. It shares this root with expedition, expedient, and expeditious, while distant relatives such as impede (to entangle the feet) preserve the same Latin foot-root ped-.
Related word forms
How expedite is actually used
"Expedite" carries a formal, bureaucratic register and appears most often in professional, legal, administrative, and logistics contexts — rarely in casual conversation. It typically takes a process, application, order, or matter as its object rather than a person directly: one expedites a request, not usually a colleague. It implies efficient facilitation without necessarily cutting corners, though in some contexts (e.g. paying to "expedite" service) it can suggest jumping a queue.
Easily confused with expedite
"Expedite" is a verb meaning to speed something up, while "expedient" is an adjective (or noun) describing a means that is convenient and practical, even if not ideal.
"Expropriate" means to take property out of private ownership, whereas "expedite" means to speed something along — they share only a superficial resemblance.