Excre´tion, in physiology, the separation and carrying off of waste matter from some organ of an animal body, a function performed by the lungs, kidneys, and the skin, besides the action of the intestinal canal.
Excubito´rium, in mediæval churches, a gallery where public watch was kept at night on the eve of some festival, and from which the great shrines could be seen.
Exe, a river of England, which rises in Exmoor, in the county of Somerset, and after a southerly course of about 50 miles falls into the English Channel at Exmouth.
Execution, in law, is a judicial writ grounded on a judgment of the court by which the writ is issued, and is granted for the purpose of carrying the judgment into effect, by having it executed. Execution is granted by a court only upon the judgments given by the same court, not upon those pronounced by another. See Elegit; Fieri facias.
Executioner, the official who carries into effect a sentence of death, or inflicts capital punishment in pursuance of a legal warrant. In England the duty of executing the extreme sentence of the law devolves upon the sheriff, and in Scotland on the civic magistracy, but in practice the duty is performed by another in presence of these functionaries. In the reign of James I Gregory Brandon was the executioner of London, and hence the name Gregory has often been employed to designate executioners. In France the executioner is styled Monsieur de Paris.
Exec'utive, that branch of the government of a country by which the laws are carried into effect or the enforcement of them superintended. The term is used in distinction from the legislative and the judicial departments, and includes the supreme magistrate, whether emperor, king, president, or governor, his cabinet or ministers, and a host of minor officials.
Exec´utor, in law, is one appointed by a man's last will to carry its provisions into execution after the testator's death. The testator may, by the English law, appoint any person of sound mind and discretion, though otherwise under some legal disabilities as to contracting and transacting business in general, such as a married woman, or a minor. The duties of executors and of administrators are, in general, the same, the difference of the two depending mostly on the mode of appointment, the executor being nominated by the testator, the administrator being appointed by the Judge of Probate. In Scotland an executor appointed by will is styled executor nominate, and by authority of the court executor dative.
Exequa´tur (Lat., 'Let him accomplish'), a written recognition of a consul or commercial agent issued by the Government to which he is accredited, and authorizing him to exercise his powers.