distribution

B1 Topic:Economics & Markets

US /ˌdɪstɹəˈbjuːʃən/ See IPA manual

Freq #8315

Meanings

1

noun
The way something is spread out or arranged over an area or group.

The map shows the distribution of rainfall across the country.
2

noun
The act of supplying goods to shops and customers.

The company handles the distribution of its products to thousands of stores.
3

noun
The way money or wealth is shared among the people in a society.

The unequal distribution of wealth is a major political issue.
4

noun
In statistics, the pattern showing how likely a variable is to take different values.

The graph shows a normal distribution of test scores.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the way something is spread... dispersion

Word family

Forms distributions

Derived forms antidistributionbiodistributioncodistributiondistdistiedistribution-freedistributionaldistributionallydistributionismdistributionistdistributionlessdistro

Related forms distributee distributive distributor

Appears in

Phrases (2)

See all

normal distribution
a symmetric bell-shaped probability distribution centered on its mean

Adjective + noun
worldwide distribution
The spread or supply of something across many parts of the world.

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin distributio, from distribuere 'to distribute', itself from dis- 'apart' + tribuere 'to' (from tribus). By surface analysis, distribute + -ion.

distributio Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Economics & Markets Places & Geography

External links

# distribution

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˌdɪstɹəˈbjuːʃən/
**Frequency rank:** 8315

## Meanings
1. The way something is spread out or arranged over an area or group.
2. The act of supplying goods to shops and customers.
3. The way money or wealth is shared among the people in a society.
4. In statistics, the pattern showing how likely a variable is to take different values.

## Examples
- The map shows the distribution of rainfall across the country.
- The company handles the distribution of its products to thousands of stores.
- The unequal distribution of wealth is a major political issue.
- The graph shows a normal distribution of test scores.

## Derived Forms
- antidistribution
- biodistribution
- codistribution
- dist
- distie
- distribution-free
- distributional
- distributionally
- distributionism
- distributionist
- distributionless
- distro

## Related Forms
- distributee
- distributive
- distributor

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: distributio

## Etymology
From Old French, from Latin distributio, from distribuere 'to distribute', itself from dis- 'apart' + tribuere 'to' (from tribus). By surface analysis, distribute + -ion.

## AI Etymology
Distribution comes from Old French, from Latin distributio, from distribuere 'to distribute', itself from dis- 'apart' + tribuere 'to' (from tribus). By surface analysis, distribute + -ion. In current use, the main senses are “The way something is spread out or arranged over an area or group” and “The act of supplying goods to shops and customers”.

## Topics
- Economics & Markets
- Places & Geography

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