executive

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪɡˈzek.jə.tɪv/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin executivus,^[2][3] from exsecūt-, the past participle stem of Latin exsequī (“to follow after; to carry out, accomplish”),^[3] the source of execute and execution.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Capable of performance, operative”, now obsolete: 1646 in the OED,^[4] the 1640s in Etymonline.^[3] The SOED dates the adjective to late Middle English.^[2]

Semantic evolution

As the distinctive epithet of the branch of government that carries out the laws it is from 1649,^[4][5] and “having the function of carrying into effect” from 1677.^[4] The noun, the person or persons holding supreme executive power in a country, is by 1708, perhaps from earlier executive part or executive power.^[3] A high-ranking business person is American English by 1902,^[3] which led the adjective to mean “stylish, luxurious, costly”, befitting an executive, in the 1970s.^[3] Executive privilege for the US president is from 1797 in a general sense,^[3] while the OED's first example is from 1940.^[4] In computing, an executive is a program that controls other programs.^[6]

Timeline

• 1646 – capable of performance.^[4]
• 1649 – of the branch of government that executes the laws.^[4][5]
• 1677 – having the function of carrying into effect.^[4]
• 1708 – noun, the holder of executive power.^[3]
• 1902 – a business executive.^[3]
• 1970s – adjective, luxurious.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person or group with administrative or managerial authority in an organization.
2. The branch of government that puts the laws into effect; the chief officer of a government or state.
3. (computing) A program that controls the running of other programs.

Adjective

1. Having to do with carrying out plans or laws; managerial.
2. Of the executive branch of government.
3. For or befitting executives; luxurious: an executive suite.

Word family

• executively
• executiveness
• CEO
• nonexecutive
• chief executive
• account executive
• executive privilege
• chief executive officer

Related words

• execute
• execution
• executor
• sequel
• consequence
• exec

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin