Executable

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈɛksəkjutəbl/

Definitions

1. Able to be carried out or performed ; a computer file that can be run to perform tasks or start a program
2. Fit to be put into effect or completed ; a file on a computer that contains a program ready to run
3. Capable of being done or fulfilled ; a digital file capable of launching a software application or process

Etymology: "Executable" is built from "execute" and the suffix "-able," which shows up in English in a long line of borrowings. The suffix traces back through Latin "-bilis" and "-ābilis," which marked things that could be done or suffered, passed through Old French "-able," and entered Middle English as "-able." Its ancestry reaches back to a Proto-Indo-European root, but in English it works as a simple, productive ending: attach it to a verb and you get an adjective meaning "capable of being" that verb's action. "Execute" itself comes from Latin "exsequi," meaning to follow out or carry through to the end. That sense of carrying a plan or command fully out is the thread running through the family. "Executable" therefore describes something that can be carried out or set in motion, and in computing it came to mean a file that a machine can run directly.

Synonyms: operable, actionable

Antonyms: inoperable, nonfunctional