exec.

Noun

executive (plural executives)

1. A chief officer or administrator, especially one who can make significant decisions on their own authority.
   • Such, Mr. Cleveland, is the real character of the government, of which you are the nominal head. Such are, and have been, its lawmakers. Such are, and have been, its judges. Such have been its executives. Such is its present executive. Have you anything to say for any of them?1886, Lysander Spooner, A Letter to Grover Cleveland, on His False Inaugural Address, The Usurpations and Crimes of Lawmakers and Judges, and the Consequent Poverty, Ignorance, and Servitude of the...

   Synonyms:

   suit

2. The branch of government that is responsible for enforcing laws and judicial decisions, and for the day-to-day administration of the state.
   • The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by...1787, Federal Convention of 1787, Constitution of the United States of America, Article I, Section 3
3. A committee that manages the day-to-day running of an organisation. An executive committee.
   • She was on the executive of the Union of Democratic Mineworkers.
4. A process that coordinates and governs the action of other processes or threads; supervisor.
   • The second phase of the executive development proceeded through two steps as stated in Section 2. First, a failsoft executive was developed providing automatic failure detection and recovery […]1973, ACM Special Interest Group in Operating Systems, Fourth Symposium on Operating System Principles

See all 7 meanings of executive

Noun

executor (plural executors)

1. A person who carries out some task.
   • This manner can no longer be considered "folk-song," yet neither can it be taken as "art-song," at least not conscious art, for the executors, the chazzanim, did not know of any theory of music and modulation.1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 192
2. A component of a system that executes or runs something.
   • When searching for a solution is unnecessary, then the program executor "doesn't care" which solution is generated nor how it is obtained.2014, Robert Kowalski, Thom Frühwirth, Logic for Problem Solving, Revisited, page 114
3. Someone appointed by a testator to administer their estate in accordance with their will; an administrator.
   • literary executor
4. (obsolete) An executioner.
   • The sad-eyed justice, with his surly hum, / Delivering o'er to executors pale / The lazy yawning drone.1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...