distributive

American  

[dih-strib-yuh-tiv] / dɪˈstrɪb yə tɪv /

adjective

1. serving to distribute, assign, allot, or divide; characterized by or pertaining to distribution.

2. Grammar. referring to the members of a group individually, as the adjectives each and every.

3. Logic. (of a term) distributed in a given proposition.

4. Mathematics.

   1. (of a binary operation) having the property that terms in an expression may be expanded in a particular way to form an equivalent expression, as a (b +c ) = ab + ac.

   2. having reference to this property.

      distributive law for multiplication over addition.

   3. (of a lattice) having the property that for any three elements, the intersection of the first element with the union of the others is equal to the intersection of the first element with each of the others.

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noun

1. a distributive word or expression.

distributive British  

/ dɪˈstrɪbjʊtɪv /

adjective

1. characterized by or relating to distribution

2. grammar referring separately to the individual people or items in a group, as the words each and every

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noun

1. grammar a distributive word

2. maths able to be distributed:

   multiplication is distributive over addition

distributive Scientific  

/ dĭ-strĭb′yə-tĭv /

1. Relating to the property of multiplication over division which states that applying multiplication to a set of quantities that are combined by addition yields the same result as applying multiplication to each quantity individually and then adding those results together. Thus 2 × (3 + 4) is equal to (2 × 3) + (2 × 4).

2. See also associative commutative

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Other Word Forms

• distributively
  adverb
• distributiveness
  noun
• nondistributive
  adjective
• nondistributively
  adverb
• nondistributiveness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of distributive

1425–75; late Middle English distributif < Middle French < Late Latin distribūtīvus ( see distribute, -ive)

Explanation

Distributive is an adjective describing the dispensing or doling out of things. In the winter during cold season, a teacher becomes a distributive source of facial tissue for all the students. The word distributive may come from the late Latin distributivus, which means "divided up." Distributive has another meaning, which concerns the sales of goods to companies or consumers. For example, if stores run out of pink sweaters for a month while more pink sweaters sit idle in warehouses, the pink sweater industry probably has a distributive problem.

Example Sentences

Upon a Termination Event, Party A will pay Party B a tax-free cash distributive award based on the length of the marriage, equal to $100,000 per full year of marriage.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026

The study's authors called these disparities a problem of "distributive justice," a term used to describe the equal distribution of a policy's benefits and burdens.

From Salon • Jan. 19, 2023

Given this, it is important to keep in mind the role that principles of distributive justice play in the ideologies discussed below.

From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022

While distributive policy, according to Lowi, has diffuse costs and concentrated benefits, regulatory policy features the opposite arrangement, with concentrated costs and diffuse benefits.

From Textbooks • Jul. 28, 2021

For everyday numbers to make sense, they have to have something called the distributive property, which is best seen through an example.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife