Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Execute

Ex′e·cute (ĕks′ē·kūt), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Executed; p. pr. & vb. n. Executing.] [F. exécuter, L. executus, exsecutus, p. p. of exequi to follow to the end, pursue; ex out + sequi to follow. See Second, Sue to follow up, and cf. Exequy.] 1. To follow out or through to the end; to carry out into complete effect; to complete; to finish; to effect; to perform.

Why delays His hand to execute what his decree Fixed on this day? Milton.

2. To complete, as a legal instrument; to perform what is required to give validity to, as by signing and perhaps sealing and delivering; as, to execute a deed, lease, mortgage, will, etc.

3. To give effect to; to do what is provided or required by; to perform the requirements or stipulations of; as, to execute a decree, judgment, writ, or process.

4. To infect capital punishment on; to put to death in conformity to a legal sentence; as, to execute a traitor.

5. To put to death illegally; to kill. [Obs.] Shak.

6. (Mus.) To perform, as a piece of music, either on an instrument or with the voice; as, to execute a difficult part brilliantly.

Syn. — To accomplish; effect; fulfill; achieve; consummate; finish; complete. See Accomplish.

Ex′e·cute, v. i. 1. To do one's work; to act one's part or purpose. [R.] Hayward.

2. To perform musically.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.