execute English · revision 15182

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1385|origins=la sequor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈek.sɪ.kjuːt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|executen]], [[bor|frm|executer]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) which Barnhart and Merriam-Webster explain as a back-formation from [[m|frm|executeur|t=executor]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) and Hoad, Etymonline and the NODE take from [[la-med|executō]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) Both go back to the past participle stem of [[la|exsequor|t=to follow out, carry out, punish]], from [[m|la|ex-|t=out]] and [[m|la|sequor|t=to follow]] (see [[sequel]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) from [[ine-pro|*sekw-|t=to follow]].^(Etymonline) The Latin verb also meant to follow to the grave, and to punish or avenge.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To carry out, perform, accomplish: about 1385 in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) about 1386 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Barnhart dates carrying a law or judgement into effect to before 1393,^(Barnhart 1988) the OED to 1413.^(OED 1989) Carrying out a will is from 1463.^(OED 1989) The sense to put to death is first recorded in 1483, in Caxton's translation of Cato;^(Barnhart 1988) it grew partly out of carrying out a sentence on someone and partly out of the Latin sense to punish.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Performing an action or movement is from 1477,^(OED 1989) and in law, completing a deed by signing and sealing it, from 1737.^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) Execution is from the 14th century, executioner from the 16th, and executive from the 17th, first as a noun in the United States in the 18th.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1385 – to carry out, accomplish.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1393 – to carry a judgement into effect.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1463 – to carry out a will.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1477 – to perform a movement.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1483 – to put to death.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1737 – to make a deed valid.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To put to death, especially as a legal [[penalty]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To carry out; to accomplish.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To perform a movement or action: ''to execute a pirouette''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To make a work of art according to a design.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(law)'' To make a legal document valid, as by signing it.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To carry a judicial sentence or law into effect; to [[enforce]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[executable]]

+ * [[executer]]

+ * [[unexecuted]]

+ * [[executrix]]

+ * [[outexecute]]

+ * [[reexecute]]

+ * [[self-executing]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[executive]]

+ * [[execution]]

+ * [[executor]]

+ * [[sequel]]

+ * [[sequence]]

+ * [[prosecute]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}