executive
/ɪɡˈzekjətɪv/ig-ZEH-kyuh-tiv
UK form converted from the US by rule · unchecked/ɪɡˈzɛkjətɪv/ig-ZEH-kyuh-tiv
Meaningtending to carry out
Common meaning: a person in charge
Other meanings: carrying out laws
Tap a word part to explore
- exout
- ecuto follow, come afterLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1677 · scan
- tverb or noun ending (part of the Latin stem)
- iveadjective ending: tending to
‘out’ + ‘to follow, come after’ → executive
Journey through time
- Latinsequor, secūtus‘to follow, come after’
- Frenchexecution
- Middle Englishexecutensource
- Englishexecute‘to carry through a plan’
- Englishformed in English from executeexecutive‘a person in charge’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from execute + -ive.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), EXECUTE, p.198 · scan
Roots
- sequor, secūtus Latin “to follow, come after”
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