distributive

adjective

dis·​trib·​u·​tive di-ˈstri-byü-tiv  -byə- 

1

: of or relating to distribution: such as

a

: dealing a proper share to each of a group

b

: diffusing more or less evenly

2

of a word : referring singly and without exception to the members of a group

each, either, and none are distributive

3

a

: being an operation (such as multiplication in a(b + c) = ab + ac) that produces the same result when operating on the whole mathematical expression as when operating on each part and collecting the results

b

: being or relating to a rule or property concerning a distributive operation

the distributive property of multiplication with respect to addition

distributively adverb

distributivity

di-ˌstri-byü-ˈti-və-tē 

noun

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

In math, it's called the distributive property. —Ale Russian, PEOPLE.com, 5 Apr. 2021

People on the inside of the tech industry are not really interested in equality, distributive justice, and fairness—they’re just celebrating technology for the sake of technology. —Jennifer Conrad, WIRED, 21 Dec. 2022

The next big distributive battle over the high cost of living came in the 1970s. —Meg Jacobs, CNN, 30 Oct. 2022

The entire operation allowed students to have a strong visual and hands-on experience for learning the distributive property. —John Benson, cleveland, 24 Nov. 2021

The second view reframes climate change as a distributive conflict. —Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic, 12 Nov. 2021

State income tax shared through the local government distributive fund for 2022 is estimated at $18.3 million, up $4.7 million, or 35%, from last year. —Suzanne Baker, chicagotribune.com, 28 Oct. 2021

When the pandemic began, a large chunk of the population served by CHUM was unable to access its food shelves, said Scott Van Daele, CHUM's distributive services director. —Jana Hollingsworth, Star Tribune, 10 May 2021

The report should include the distributive impacts of any new measure, and the use of tax return information is meant to make the regime administrable. —Marie Sapirie, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2021

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Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

distributive

adjective

dis·​trib·​u·​tive dis-ˈtrib-yət-iv 

1

: of or relating to distribution : serving to distribute

2

: of, having, or being the property of giving the same mathematical result when an operation is carried out on a whole expression and when it is carried out on each part of an expression with the results then collected together

the distributive property of multiplication means a(b + c) = ab + ac

distributively adverb