distributed

American  

[dih-strib-yoo-tid] / dɪˈstrɪb yʊ tɪd /

adjective

1. Computers.

   1. being or relating to a network of devices, workstations, etc., in different locations connected by means of one or more other networks, allowing each member to carry out some or all of the management and processing of the shared information.

      As computers began to connect across the internet, the CPU evolved from being specifically a central control system to become a node within a distributed network.

   2. being or relating to a single database shared across such a network, especially one integrating multiple smaller databases.

      Back then no one was thinking of distributed databases with hundreds of servers working to keep data consistent across the nodes.

2. Linguistics. (in distinctive feature analysis) characterized by relatively extensive contact or constriction between the articulating organs, as the in show in contrast to the in so.

3. Statistics. showing a specified type of distribution.

   A randomly distributed dominant gene has a prevalence of 75 percent.

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Other Word Forms

• undistributed adjective
• well-distributed adjective

Etymology

Origin of distributed

distribute + -ed ²

Explanation

Something is distributed when it's divided up or spread around, the way cupcakes might be distributed among guests at a birthday party. Distributed is a word that's often used to describe the stuff that businesses sell. When a truck pulls up to a convenience store and the driver unloads cases of soda, the soda is being distributed. The driver will go from store to store, distributing all of the soda in the truck between different stores and restaurants. Words and ideas can be distributed too, which is what happens at school when students are lucky.

Example Sentences

LA28 announced a fundraiser to give away tickets to locals, but details on how they would be distributed have not been announced.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

Carter believes that Big Ten’s annual revenue — approximately $1 billion, which gets distributed to each school — is a main driver of the conference’s recent success.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026

The existing warehouse, which distributed 14,244 emergency parcels last year, will also undergo a refurbishment.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026

If a system fails to verify a delivery, the food cannot be released, insured, sold, or legally distributed.

From Science Daily • Apr. 5, 2026

Confident in the devices, the British army had already distributed eleven thousand of them.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Related Words

• appropriated
• assigned
• dispersed
• scattered
• shared