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execution

[ek-si-kyoo-shuh n]
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noun

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hit, hanging, crucifixion, shooting, punishment, strangulation, electrocution, gassing, impalement, decapitation, completion, enforcement, prosecution, accomplishment, implementation, consummation, enactment, realization, administration, effect

Origin of execution

1250–1300; Middle English execucioun < Latin execūtiōn- (stem of execūtiō). See executive, -ion
Related formsex·e·cu·tion·al, adjectivenon·ex·e·cu·tion, nounpre·ex·e·cu·tion, nounre·ex·e·cu·tion, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for execution

Contemporary Examples of execution

Historical Examples of execution

  • The execution is left entirely to your judgment and address.

  • The scheme was very simple, though I do not think it was at all difficult of execution.

    Ned Myers

    James Fenimore Cooper

  • There was no opportunity for us to put our plans in execution, in going down channel.

    Ned Myers

    James Fenimore Cooper

  • Tried for piracy, probably, and the execution of some, if not all of us.

    Ned Myers

    James Fenimore Cooper

  • Scarce had that thought crossed him than he hastened to put it into execution.

    Night and Morning, Complete

    Edward Bulwer-Lytton

British Dictionary definitions for execution

execution

noun

the act or process of executing
the carrying out or undergoing of a sentence of death
the style or manner in which something is accomplished or performed; techniqueas a pianist his execution is poor
  1. the enforcement of the judgment of a court of law
  2. the writ ordering such enforcement
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for execution
n.

mid-14c., from Anglo-French execucioun (late 13c.), Old French execucion "a carrying out" (of an order, etc.), from Latin executionem (nominative executio) "an accomplishing," noun of action from past participle stem of exequi/exsequi "to follow out," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + sequi "follow" (see sequel).

Sense of "act of putting to death" (mid-14c.) is from Middle English legal phrases such as don execution of deth "carry out a sentence of death." Literal meaning "action of carrying something into effect" is from late 14c. John McKay, coach of the woeful Tampa Bay Buccaneers (U.S. football team), when asked by a reporter what he thought of his team's execution, replied, "I think it would be a good idea." Executor and executioner were formerly used indifferently, because both are carrying out legal orders.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper