Execute

How to spell execute

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce execute

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does execute mean?

1. verbTo carry out or perform a planned task, order, or operation.
2. verbTo run a computer program, command, or instruction.
3. verbTo make a legal document valid by signing it as required.

Execute in a sentence

• The team will execute the marketing plan next quarter.

• The processor can execute millions of instructions each second.

• Both parties must execute the contract before any work begins.

• Soldiers were trained to execute the manoeuvre under pressure.

• Double-click the file to execute the installer.

• The solicitor watched the client execute the will in front of witnesses.

Where does execute come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin exsequi, meaning 'to follow out' or 'to carry through to the end', formed from ex- 'out, completely' and sequi 'to follow'. The past-participle stem exsecut- gave the medieval Latin executare, and the sense developed from simply 'following something through' to actively 'carrying it out' or 'accomplishing it'. English borrowed it through Old French executer in the 1300s, first in the legal sense of carrying out a judgement or a will. From the grim duty of carrying out a death sentence came the now common meaning 'to put to death'. The same sequi root that means 'to follow' also lies behind 'sequence', 'consequence', and 'pursue', and remembering that buried follow-word helps explain why the middle of execute is spelled -ecu- rather than the -icu- many writers expect.

How the word is built

• ex- (out, completely)
• secut (from sequi: to follow, carry through)
• -e