execute
ex·e·cute/ˈɛksɪˌkjuːt/verb
execute is spelled E-X-E-C-U-T-E, 3 syllables: ex·e·cute. The wrong spelling people search most is excecute: about 40 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 46 of all searches for the word. Execute is a verb meaning “To kill, especially as punishment for a capital crime”.
How many letters and syllables are in execute?
| Letters | 7: E-X-E-C-U-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ex·e·cute |
| In writing | 8.9 times per million words; the 7,672nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, excecute, about 40 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell execute?
Execute is spelled E-X-E-C-U-T-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 46 of the searches for execute in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is execute?
Execute appears 8.9 times per million words in written English, the 7,672nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce execute?
- /ˈɛksɪˌkjuːt/
- /ˈɛɡzɪˌkjuːt/
- /eɡ.zɪ.kjuːʈ/
Execute has 3 syllables, split ex·e·cute in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-execute.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of execute
- executes present, singular, he/she/it
- executing participle, present
- executed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does execute mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To kill, especially as punishment for a capital crime.
There are certain states where it is lawful to execute prisoners convicted of certain crimes.
- 2
To carry out; to put into effect.
Your orders have been executed, sir!
- 3
To perform.
to execute a difficult piece of music brilliantly
- 4
To carry out, to perform an act; to put into effect or cause to become legally binding or valid (as a contract) by so doing.
to execute a contract
- 5
To start, launch, or run.
to execute a program
- 6
To run, usually successfully.
The program executed, but data problems were discovered.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Execute in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | exécuter, mettre à mort |
| German | hinrichten, exekutieren , ausführen, durchführen |
| Portuguese | executar , rodar |
| Spanish | ejecutar, ajusticiar, enrodar , arrancar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does execute come from?
From Old French executer (French exécuter), from Latin exsecutus, past participle of exsequor (“to follow (up/through)”, particularly in the sense “to go through with a deed or punishment”), from ex- (“out”) + sequor (“to follow”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).