executor
Americannoun
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a person who executes, carries out, or performs some duty, job, assignment, artistic work, etc.
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Law. a person named in a decedent's will to carry out the provisions of that will.
noun
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law a person appointed by a testator to carry out the wishes expressed in his will
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a person who executes
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of executor
1250–1300; Middle English executour < Latin execūtor, equivalent to execū ( tus ) ( see execute) + -tor, -tor; replacing Middle English esecutor < Anglo-French essecutour < Latin, as above
Compare meaning
How does executor compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
You're most likely to hear the word executor in an attorney's office, since it means a person who is legally responsible for ensuring that a will's directions are followed. The executor of a will is in charge of making sure that people listed as beneficiaries — in other words, the people who inherit money or property — receive what has been willed to them. When writing a will, most people will choose a responsible adult to be executor. The Latin root, executionem, means "an accomplishing" or "a carrying out."
Vocabulary lists containing executor
The Westing Game
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Vocabulary from the Magna Carta on its 800th Anniversary
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Lifting as We Climb
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I am the executor of an estate which includes a stock account worth $400,000.
From MarketWatch • May 21, 2026
A last will and testament is a document that indicates who will receive assets after someone dies and names an executor, or personal representative, to administer the estate.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026
This pursuit of this truth makes him not only a liberating literary executor but also a worthy moral educator.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 23, 2026
He was listed as an executor on one of Epstein’s earlier wills.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026
Leeuwenhoek was the executor of Vermeer’s estate and a frequent visitor at the Huygens home in Hofwijck.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
