What is deferred execution in the context of LINQ to Entities?

Deferred execution in LINQ to Entities means that the execution of a LINQ query is delayed until its results are needed. Instead of executing the query immediately when it's defined, LINQ to Entities postpones the actual execution until the query results are iterated or enumerated. This deferred execution allows for optimizations and flexibility in composing complex queries, as the query isn't executed until all the necessary conditions and transformations are in place.