What does "distribution" mean?
An act of distributing or state of being distributed.
Distribution
/ˌdɪstɹəˈbjuːʃən/ noun
noun ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An act of distributing or state of being distributed.
- Grammar: distribution is listed as noun.
- Nearest alternatives: dispersion, administration, allocate randomly, allocate resources.
- Useful contrasts: certainty, clustering, coalescing.
- Usage evidence: We must draw attention to the distribution of this form in those dialects.
How to use "distribution"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "distribution" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "distribution" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "distribution" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "distribution" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "distribution" is acting as noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "dispersion" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "distribution", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An act of distributing or state of being distributed. countable, uncountable
- 2 the act of distributing or spreading or apportioning wordnet
- 3 An apportionment by law (of funds, property). countable, uncountable
- 4 the commercial activity of transporting and selling goods from a producer to a consumer wordnet
- 5 The process by which goods get to final consumers over a geographical market, including storing, selling, shipping and advertising. countable, uncountable
Show 16 more definitions
- 6 the spatial or geographic property of being scattered about over a range, area, or volume wordnet
- 7 Anything distributed; portion; share. countable, uncountable
"December 6, 1709, Francis Atterbury, a sermon preach'd before the sons of the clergy at their anniversary-meeting in the Church of St. Paul our charitable distributions"
- 8 (statistics) an arrangement of values of a variable showing their observed or theoretical frequency of occurrence wordnet
- 9 The result of distributing; arrangement. countable, uncountable
"The criterion for positivity was determined for each antigen of each species applying a mixture model to the PP data which assumed two inherent Gaussian distributions: a narrow distribution or seronegatives, and a broader distribution of seropositives."
- 10 The total number of something sold or delivered to the clients. countable, uncountable
"The distribution of my little rock magazine is about 3,000."
- 11 The frequency of occurrence or extent of existence. countable, uncountable
- 12 The apportionment of income or wealth in a population. countable, uncountable
"The wealth distribution became extremely skewed in the kleptocracy."
- 13 The way in which a player's hand is divided in suits, or in which a particular suit is divided between the players. countable, uncountable
"The declarer had 3-6-2-2 distribution."
- 14 A probability distribution; the set of relative likelihoods that a variable will have a value in a given interval. countable, uncountable
- 15 A subset of the tangent bundle of a manifold that satisfies certain properties; used to construct the notions of integrability and foliation of a manifold. countable, uncountable
- 16 A set of bundled software components. countable, uncountable
"a Linux distribution"
- 17 The process or result of the sale of securities, especially their placement among investors with long-term investment strategies. countable, uncountable
- 18 The resolution of a whole into its parts. countable, uncountable
- 19 The process of sorting the types and placing them in their proper boxes in the cases. countable, historical, uncountable
- 20 The steps or operations by which steam is supplied to and withdrawn from the cylinder at each stroke of the piston: admission, suppression or cutting off, release or exhaust, and compression of exhaust steam prior to the next admission. countable, uncountable
- 21 A rhetorical technique in which a subject is divided into multiple cases based on some property or properties, and each case is addressed individually. countable, rhetoric, uncountable
"It is alſo called a diſtribucion, when we diuide the whole, into ſeuerall partes, and ſaie we haue foure poynctes, whereof we purpoſe to ſpeake, compꝛehendyng our whole talke within compaſſe of theſame."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"We must draw attention to the distribution of this form in those dialects."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "distribution"?
Common synonyms include: dispersion, administration, allocate randomly, allocate resources, allocate weekly blocks, allocating.
How do you use "distribution" in a sentence?
We must draw attention to the distribution of this form in those dialects.
How do you pronounce "distribution"?
Pronounced /ˌdɪstɹəˈbjuːʃən/.
Etymology
From Old French, from Latin distributio, from distribuere 'to distribute', itself from dis- 'apart' + tribuere 'to' (from tribus). By surface analysis, distribute + -ion.