distributive property

American  

[dih-strib-yuh-tiv prop-er-tee] / dɪˈstrɪb yə tɪv ˌprɒp ər ti /

noun

1. Mathematics. the property that terms in an expression may be expanded in a particular way to form an equivalent expression.

---

Etymology

Origin of distributive property

First recorded in 1810–15

Example Sentences

There will be times when we’ll need to use the distributive property as part of the order of operations.

From Textbooks • Apr. 22, 2020

So we use the distributive property, as shown in Example 1.132.

From Textbooks • Apr. 22, 2020

This usually involves combining like terms or using the distributive property.

From Textbooks • Apr. 22, 2020

Scalar multiplication of vectors satisfies the distributive property, and the zero vector acts as an additive identity.

From Textbooks • Mar. 30, 2016

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