Executives

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. High-ranking officials who manage and direct an organization's operations and strategies
2. Senior leaders responsible for setting policies and ensuring effective management within a company
3. Individuals at the top tier of a company responsible for overseeing operations and making strategic decisions

Etymology: The noun "executives" is simply the plural of "executive," so the story belongs to the adjective that came first. Its ancestor is Latin "exsequi," built from "ex-" meaning "out" and "sequi" meaning "follow," so the core idea is following something through to its end. That sense of carrying a plan out is what gives the modern word its force. The adjective passed into English through Middle French "executif," which descends from the Latin "executivus," a form tied to that verb of carrying things out. Over time, the sense of putting decisions into effect became the quality of a person or body with the authority to do so. From there, the word took on its present meaning: people who hold command over a company's direction. Notice how the verb's root reaches all the way back to following. A leader at the top is, in a sense, someone who follows a decision all the way through to its result.

Synonyms: managers, administrators, directors, leaders, chiefs

Antonyms: subordinates, employees, workers, assistants, interns