Where does “executable” come from?
Executable comes from Middle English -able added to Latin exsecutus, past participle of exsequī meaning to carry out or follow through, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European sekʷ- meaning to follow.
executable (English): Capable of being executed; A file that can be run...
Definitions
- Capable of being executed; A file that can be run...
Ancestry of “executable”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | execute | To kill as punishment for capital crimes; To... |
| 2 | Old French | executer | — |
| 3 | Latin | exsecutus | accompanied; pursued; executed, accomplished;... |
| 4 | Latin | exsequor | I follow to the end; follow after thoroughly,... |
| 5 | Latin | ex | A name of the letter "X"; out of, from |
| 6 | Latin | commūnicō | to impart, share |
| 7 | Latin | commūnis | common, commonplace, ordinary, general, universal, shared, shared alike, of both sides, belonging to two or more together |
| 8 | Old Latin | com(m)oinis | — |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | kommoinis | common |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱom-moy-ni- | held in common |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 13 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 14 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 15 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 16 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 17 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |