Meaning

verb kill as a means of socially sanctioned punishment

verb murder in a planned fashion

verb put in effect

originFrom Old French executer (French exécuter), from Latin exsecutus, past participle of exsequor (“to follow (up/through)”, particularly in the sense “to go through with a deed or punishment”), from ex- (“out”) + sequor (“to follow”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0