Etymologically
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execution

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 12:39. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˌeksɪˈkjuːʃ(ə)n/, /ˌeksəˈkjuːʃ(ə)n/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English execucioun, borrowed from Anglo-Norman execucioun, execucion (“a carrying out”),[2][3] from Latin executio (“an accomplishing”),[2][4] a noun of action from executus, the past participle of exsequī (“to follow out”) (see execute).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The carrying into effect of a plan, law, command or the like: about 1374 in the OED,[5] the late 14th century in Etymonline.[2]

Semantic evolution

The specific sense of putting a condemned person to death is from the mid-14th century, out of legal phrases such as don execution of deth, to carry out a sentence of death;[2] SOED notes that it formerly covered any judicial, usually corporal, punishment.[4] The enforcement of a court's judgment and the writ that orders it are legal senses still current.[6][7] The performance of a designed movement or operation is from about 1534, and the mastery of technique in playing music from 1795.[5] Because both carry out legal orders, executor and executioner were once used interchangeably.[2]

Timeline

  • mid-14th century – putting to death, in don execution of deth.[2]
  • c. 1374 – carrying a plan or command into effect.[5]
  • c. 1380 – carrying a law or sentence into effect.[5]
  • c. 1534 – the carrying out of a designed operation.[5]
  • 1795 – skill in performance, especially in music.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act or process of carrying something out or putting it into effect.
  2. The style or manner in which something is performed; technique.
  3. The putting to death of a person as a legal penalty.
  4. (law) The enforcement of a court's judgment, or the writ ordering it; also, the validation of a legal document by completing the required formalities.

Word family

  • executional
  • nonexecution
  • execution time

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins