1. A person or group having administrative or managerial authority in an organization.
2. The chief officer of a government, state, or political division.
3. The branch of government charged with putting into effect a country's laws and the administering of its functions.
4. Computer Science. A set of coded instructions designed to process and control other coded instructions.

1. Of, relating to, capable of, or suited for carrying out or executing: an advisory body lacking executive powers.
2. Having, characterized by, or relating to administrative or managerial authority: the executive director of a drama troupe; executive experience and skills.
3. Of or relating to the branch of government charged with the execution and administration of the nation's laws.

[Middle English, to be carried out, from Old French exécutif, from executer, to carry out. See execute.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.