Executing

How to spell executing

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce executing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does executing mean?

1. verbCarrying out or performing a planned task, action, or process.
2. verbRunning a program, command, or instruction on a computer.

Executing in a sentence

• The team is executing the new marketing strategy ahead of schedule.

• The server is executing the backup script in the background.

• She spent the morning executing each step of the audit in order.

• The application froze while executing a long database query.

Where does executing come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the present participle of 'execute', which traces back to the Latin verb exsequi, meaning 'to follow out' or 'to follow to the end'. That verb was built from ex, meaning 'out' or 'thoroughly', and sequi, meaning 'to follow', the same root that gives English 'sequence' and 'consequence'. By late Latin the past participle stem executus carried the sense of carrying a task right through to completion. English picked the word up in the 1300s through Old French executer, and it kept the idea of 'following something through' whether that meant performing a duty, enforcing a legal sentence, or, more grimly, putting a person to death. The spelling preserves that buried -secut- root, which is why the middle of the word reads 'cut' rather than the softer sound you might expect when saying it aloud.

How the word is built

• ex- (out, to the end)
• -secut- (from sequi: to follow)
• -ing (present participle suffix)