The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Executive \Ex*ec"u*tive\, n.
   1. An impersonal title of the chief magistrate or officer who
      administers the government, whether king, president, or
      governor; the governing person or body.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. a person who has administrative authority over an
      organization or division of an organization; a manager,
      supervisor or administrator at a high level within an
      organization; as, all executives of the company were given
      stock options
      [PJC]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Executive \Ex*ec"u*tive\, a. [Cf.F. ex['e]cutif.]
   1. Designed or fitted for execution, or carrying into effect;
      as, executive talent; qualifying for, concerned with, or
      pertaining to, the execution of the laws or the conduct of
      affairs; as, executive power or authority; executive
      duties, officer, department, etc.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: In government, executive is distinguished from
         legislative and judicial; legislative being
         applied to the organ or organs of government which make
         the laws; judicial, to that which interprets and
         applies the laws; executive, to that which carries them
         into effect or secures their due performance.
         [1913 Webster]

   2. of or pertaining to an executive[2] or to the group of
      executives within an organization; as, executive
      compensation increased more rapidly than wages in the
      1980's; the executive suite.
      [PJC]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

executive
    adj 1: having the function of carrying out plans or orders etc.;
           "the executive branch"
    n 1: a person responsible for the administration of a business
         [syn: executive, executive director]
    2: persons who administer the law
    3: someone who manages a government agency or department [syn:
       administrator, executive]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

92 Moby Thesaurus words for "executive":
   administrating, administration, administrative, administrator,
   archon, big cheese, board, board of directors, board of regents,
   board of trustees, boss, bureaucratic, businessman, businesswoman,
   cabinet, cadre, captain, castellan, chancellor, chatelain,
   chatelaine, chief executive, chief executive officer, commandant,
   commander, council, dean, directing, director, directorate,
   directorship, directory, entrepreneur, exec, executive arm,
   executive committee, executive director, executive hierarchy,
   executive officer, executive secretary, foreman, governing,
   governing board, governing body, government, governmental,
   governor, gubernatorial, head, infrastructure, intendant,
   interlocking directorate, kingpin, leader, leadership, magistrate,
   management, manager, managerial, managing, managing director,
   master, ministerial, number one, officer, official, officiating,
   overseer, prefect, president, presiding, prexy, principal, provost,
   regulatory, ruler, secretary, steering committee, superintendent,
   supervision, supervisor, supervisory, the administration,
   the brass, the executive, the people upstairs, top brass, top dog,
   treasurer, vice-chancellor, vice-president, warden



The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

executive

    The command interpreter or shell for an
   operating system.  The term is used especially around
   mainframes and probably derived from UNIVAC's archaic
   EXEC 2 and current (in 2000) EXEC 8 operating systems.

   (2000-08-06)


Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

EXECUTIVE, government. That power in the government which causes the laws to
be executed and obeyed: it is usually. confided to the hands of the chief
magistrate; the president of the United States is invested with this
authority under the national government; and the governor of each state has
the executive power in his hands.
     2. The officer in whom is vested the executive power is also called the
executive.
     3. The Constitution of the United States directs that "the executive
power shall be vested in a president of the United States of America." Art.
2, s. 1. Vide Story, Const. B. 3, c. 36.



The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):

EXECUTIVE, n.  An officer of the Government, whose duty it is to
enforce the wishes of the legislative power until such time as the
judicial department shall be pleased to pronounce them invalid and of
no effect.  Following is an extract from an old book entitled, _The
Lunarian Astonished_ -- Pfeiffer & Co., Boston, 1803:

    LUNARIAN:  Then when your Congress has passed a law it goes
        directly to the Supreme Court in order that it may at once be
        known whether it is constitutional?
    TERRESTRIAN:  O no; it does not require the approval of the
        Supreme Court until having perhaps been enforced for many
        years somebody objects to its operation against himself -- I
        mean his client.  The President, if he approves it, begins to
        execute it at once.
    LUNARIAN:  Ah, the executive power is a part of the legislative.
        Do your policemen also have to approve the local ordinances
        that they enforce?
    TERRESTRIAN:  Not yet -- at least not in their character of
        constables.  Generally speaking, though, all laws require the
        approval of those whom they are intended to restrain.
    LUNARIAN:  I see.  The death warrant is not valid until signed by
        the murderer.
    TERRESTRIAN:  My friend, you put it too strongly; we are not so
        consistent.
    LUNARIAN:  But this system of maintaining an expensive judicial
        machinery to pass upon the validity of laws only after they
        have long been executed, and then only when brought before the
        court by some private person -- does it not cause great
        confusion?
    TERRESTRIAN:  It does.
    LUNARIAN:  Why then should not your laws, previously to being
        executed, be validated, not by the signature of your
        President, but by that of the Chief Justice of the Supreme
        Court?
    TERRESTRIAN:  There is no precedent for any such course.
    LUNARIAN:  Precedent.  What is that?
    TERRESTRIAN:  It has been defined by five hundred lawyers in three
        volumes each.  So how can any one know?