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.

---

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

---

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

---

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 ( 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

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

Use the distributive property, multiply, combine like terms, and simplify.

From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021

A related distributive project is the effort to bring broadband internet to remote rural areas of the country that have disproportionately felt the negative effects of the digital divide.

From Textbooks • Jul. 28, 2021

If you think about doing the math in this way, you are using the distributive property.

From Textbooks • Apr. 22, 2020

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