noun · 21 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˌdɪstɹɪˈbjuːʃən/
Canada, General-American:/ˌdɪstɹɪˈbjuʃən/
Canada, General-American:/ˌdɪstɹəˈbjuʃən/
California:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
North CarolinaRecorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Australian:/ˌdɪstɹɪˈbjʉːʃən/
New-Zealand:/ˌdəstɹəˈbjʉːʃən/
rhymes with -uːʃən
CMU ARPABET:D IH2 S T R AH0 B Y UW1 SH AH0 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
An act of distributing or state of being distributed.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
An apportionment by law (of funds, property).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
The process by which goods get to final consumers over a geographical market, including storing, selling, shipping and advertising.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: business, marketing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
Anything distributed; portion; share.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
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
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
The result of distributing; arrangement.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
The total number of something sold or delivered to the clients.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Examples
The distribution of my little rock magazine is about 3,000.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
noun
Meaning 7
The frequency of occurrence or extent of existence.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
The apportionment of income or wealth in a population.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: economics, sciences
Examples
The wealth distribution became extremely skewed in the kleptocracy.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
9
noun
Meaning 9
The way in which a player's hand is divided in suits, or in which a particular suit is divided between the players.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: card-games, games
Examples
The declarer had 3-6-2-2 distribution.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
10
noun
Meaning 10
A probability distribution; the set of relative likelihoods that a variable will have a value in a given interval.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: mathematics, sciences, statistics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
11
noun
Meaning 11
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Qualifier: differential geometry
Topics: mathematics, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
12
noun
Meaning 12
A set of bundled software components.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
15
noun
Meaning 15
The process of sorting the types and placing them in their proper boxes in the cases.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, historical, uncountable
Topics: media, printing, publishing
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
16
noun
Meaning 16
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.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Qualifier: steam engines
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
17
noun
Meaning 17
A rhetorical technique in which a subject is divided into multiple cases based on some property or properties, and each case is addressed individually.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, rhetoric, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
18
noun
Meaning 18
the act of distributing or spreading or apportioning
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: act, deed, human action, human activity
(statistics) an arrangement of values of a variable showing their observed or theoretical frequency of occurrence
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: statistical distribution
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: arrangement, organization, organisation, system
Narrower terms: equidistribution, frequency distribution, normal distribution, Gaussian distribution, Poisson distribution, sample distribution, sample, sampling, binomial distribution, Bernoulli distribution
History
Etymology
From Old French distribution, from Latin distributio, from distribuere 'to distribute', itself from dis- 'apart' + tribuere 'to' (from tribus). By surface analysis, distribute + -ion.
Across languages
Translations
231 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
تَوْزِيع
(tawzīʕ)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Belarusian:
размеркава́нне
(razmjerkavánnje)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Bengali:
বিতরণ
(bitoron)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Bulgarian:
разпреде́ляне
(razpredéljane)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Catalan:
distribució
— act of distribution or being distributed
Chinese Mandarin:
分配
(fēnpèi)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Chinese Mandarin:
分布
(fēnbù)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Czech:
distribuce
— act of distribution or being distributed
Danish:
distribution
— act of distribution or being distributed
Danish:
fordeling
— act of distribution or being distributed
Dutch:
distributie
— act of distribution or being distributed
Dutch:
uitdeling
— act of distribution or being distributed
Dutch:
verdeling
— act of distribution or being distributed
Esperanto:
disdono
— act of distribution or being distributed
Esperanto:
distribuado
— act of distribution or being distributed
Estonian:
jaotus
— act of distribution or being distributed
Finnish:
levittäminen
— act of distribution or being distributed
Finnish:
levitys
— act of distribution or being distributed
Finnish:
jako
— act of distribution or being distributed
Finnish:
jakaminen
— act of distribution or being distributed
Finnish:
jakautuminen
— act of distribution or being distributed
French:
distribution
— act of distribution or being distributed
Galician:
distribución
— act of distribution or being distributed
German:
Distribution
— act of distribution or being distributed
German:
Verbreitung
— act of distribution or being distributed
German:
Austeilung
— act of distribution or being distributed
Greek:
διανομή
(dianomí)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Ancient Greek:
διανομή
(dianomḗ)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Hebrew:
הֲפָצָה
(hafatsá)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Hebrew:
חלוקה
— act of distribution or being distributed
Hebrew:
חֲלֻקָּה
(khaluká)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Hebrew:
פיזור
(pizúr)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Hindi:
वितरण
(vitraṇ)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Hindi:
फैलाना
(phailānā)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Irish:
leatacht
— act of distribution or being distributed
Italian:
distribuzione
— act of distribution or being distributed
Japanese:
配布
(haifu)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Japanese:
配分
(haibun)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Kashmiri:
بٲگرَن
(bạ̄gran)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Korean:
분배
(bunbae)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Korean:
분포
(bunpo)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Latin:
dīvīsiō
— act of distribution or being distributed
Malay:
pengedaran
— act of distribution or being distributed
Malay:
pengagihan
— act of distribution or being distributed
Māori:
tuaritanga
— act of distribution or being distributed
Marathi:
वाटप
(vāṭap)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Marathi:
वितरण
(vitraṇ)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Norwegian Bokmål:
distribusjon
— act of distribution or being distributed
Norwegian Nynorsk:
distribusjon
— act of distribution or being distributed
Occitan:
distribucion
— act of distribution or being distributed
Persian:
توزیع
(towzi')
— act of distribution or being distributed
Persian:
پراکنش
(parākaneš)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Polish:
dystrybucja
— act of distribution or being distributed
Portuguese:
distribuição
— act of distribution or being distributed
Romanian:
distribuire
— act of distribution or being distributed
Russian:
распростране́ние
(rasprostranénije)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Russian:
разда́ча
(razdáča)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Russian:
распределе́ние
(raspredelénije)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Russian:
дистрибу́ция
(distribúcija)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Scottish Gaelic:
sgaoileadh
— act of distribution or being distributed
Serbo-Croatian:
расподјела
— act of distribution or being distributed
Serbo-Croatian:
дистрибу́ција
— act of distribution or being distributed
Serbo-Croatian:
раздиоба
— act of distribution or being distributed
Serbo-Croatian:
rȁspodjela
— act of distribution or being distributed
Serbo-Croatian:
distribúcija
— act of distribution or being distributed
Serbo-Croatian:
ràzdioba
— act of distribution or being distributed
Spanish:
distribución
— act of distribution or being distributed
Spanish:
capitación
— act of distribution or being distributed
Spanish:
cabezaje
— act of distribution or being distributed
Swahili:
usambazaji
— act of distribution or being distributed
Swedish:
distribution
— act of distribution or being distributed
Swedish:
fördelning
— act of distribution or being distributed
Ukrainian:
розпо́діл
(rozpódil)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Ukrainian:
розповсю́дження
(rozpovsjúdžennja)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Ukrainian:
поши́рення
(pošýrennja)
— act of distribution or being distributed
Volapük:
dilamosegiv
— act of distribution or being distributed
Danish:
fordeling
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Dutch:
opdeling
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Dutch:
verdeling
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Finnish:
jako
— apportionment by law of funds, property
German:
Aufteilung
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Greek:
κατανομή
(katanomí)
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Greek:
μοιρασιά
(moirasiá)
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Hebrew:
חלוקה
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Hebrew:
חֲלֻקָּה
(khaluká)
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Hebrew:
הַקְצָאָה
(haktsaá)
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Hindi:
वितरण
(vitraṇ)
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Hindi:
बँटवारा
(bãṭvārā)
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Kashmiri:
بٲگرَن
(bạ̄gran)
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Kashmiri:
بٔنٛزرَن
(bạnzran)
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Marathi:
वाटप
(vāṭap)
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Marathi:
वितरण
(vitraṇ)
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Portuguese:
distribuição
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Swedish:
fördelning
— apportionment by law of funds, property
Bulgarian:
разпростране́ние
(razprostranénie)
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Danish:
distribution
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Danish:
forhandling
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Dutch:
distributie
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Dutch:
verdeling
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Finnish:
jakelu
— process by which goods get to final consumers
German:
Distribution
— process by which goods get to final consumers
German:
Absatz
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Greek:
διανομή
(dianomí)
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Hebrew:
הֲפָצָה
(hafatsá)
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Hebrew:
אספקה
(aspaká)
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Hungarian:
forgalmazás
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Norwegian Bokmål:
distribusjon
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Norwegian Nynorsk:
distribusjon
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Polish:
dystrybucja
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Portuguese:
distribuição
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Romanian:
distribuire
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Serbo-Croatian:
до̏става
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Serbo-Croatian:
дистрибу́ција
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Serbo-Croatian:
dȍstava
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Serbo-Croatian:
distribúcija
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Swedish:
distribution
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Ukrainian:
дистрибу́ція
(dystrybúcija)
— process by which goods get to final consumers
Finnish:
levikki
— total number of something sold or delivered to the clients
Finnish:
menekki
— total number of something sold or delivered to the clients
Bulgarian:
разпределе́ние
(razpredelénie)
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Danish:
spredning
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Dutch:
spreiding
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Dutch:
verspreiding
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Esperanto:
disvastiĝo
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Finnish:
yleisyys
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Finnish:
levinneisyys
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
German:
Distribution
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
German:
Verbreitung
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
German:
Aufteilung
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Greek:
κατανομή
(katanomí)
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Hebrew:
תפוצה
(tfutsá)
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Italian:
diffusione
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Japanese:
分布
(bunpu)
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Portuguese:
distribuição
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Serbo-Croatian:
ра̏сподела
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Serbo-Croatian:
ра̏сподјела
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Serbo-Croatian:
дистрибу́ција
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Serbo-Croatian:
rȁspodela
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Serbo-Croatian:
rȁspodjela
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Serbo-Croatian:
distribúcija
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Swedish:
distribution
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Swedish:
fördelning
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Ukrainian:
розповсю́дження
(rozpovsjúdžennja)
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Ukrainian:
поши́рення
(pošýrennja)
— frequency of occurrence or extent of existence
Danish:
uddeling
— anything distributed
Dutch:
distributie
— anything distributed
Dutch:
uitdeling
— anything distributed
Estonian:
jaotis
— anything distributed
Finnish:
jakelu
— anything distributed
German:
Streuung
— anything distributed
German:
Verbreitung
— anything distributed
German:
Aufteilung
— anything distributed
Greek:
διανομή
(dianomí)
— anything distributed
Malay:
agihan
— anything distributed
Portuguese:
parte
— anything distributed
Portuguese:
porção
— anything distributed
Romanian:
parte distribuită
— anything distributed
Romanian:
distribuție
— anything distributed
Swedish:
tilldelning
— anything distributed
Swedish:
utdelning
— anything distributed
Bulgarian:
разпределе́ние
(razpredelénie)
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Danish:
fordeling
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Dutch:
opdeling
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Dutch:
verdeling
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Finnish:
jakauma
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Finnish:
jako
— the result of distributing; arrangement
German:
Distribution
— the result of distributing; arrangement
German:
Aufteilung
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Greek:
κατανομή
(katanomí)
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Hebrew:
הֲפָצָה
(hafatsá)
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Hebrew:
תפוצה
(tfutsá)
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Hungarian:
eloszlás
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Hungarian:
megoszlás
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Japanese:
配分
(haibun)
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Portuguese:
distribuição
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Portuguese:
arranjo
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Romanian:
distribuție
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Romanian:
împărțire
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Romanian:
aranjament
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Russian:
распростране́ние
(rasprostranénije)
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Swedish:
distribution
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Swedish:
fördelning
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Ukrainian:
розпо́діл
(rozpódil)
— the result of distributing; arrangement
Finnish:
jako
— economics: apportionment of income or wealth in a population
Finnish:
jakautuminen
— economics: apportionment of income or wealth in a population
Hebrew:
חלוקה
— economics: apportionment of income or wealth in a population
Hebrew:
חֲלֻקָּה
(khaluká)
— economics: apportionment of income or wealth in a population
Hebrew:
הַקְצָאָה
(haktsaá)
— economics: apportionment of income or wealth in a population
Finnish:
jakauma
— card games: way in which the cards are divided
Polish:
rozkład
— card games: way in which the cards are divided
Arabic:
تَوْزِيع
(tawzīʕ)
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Bulgarian:
разпределе́ние
(razpredelénie)
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Catalan:
distribució
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Czech:
rozdělení
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Dutch:
distributie
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Dutch:
verdeling
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Finnish:
jakauma
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
French:
distribution
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
German:
Distribution
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
German:
Gliederung
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
German:
Aufteilung
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Greek:
κατανομή
(katanomí)
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Hebrew:
תְּפוּצָה
(tfutsá)
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Hebrew:
הִתְפַּלְּגוּת
(hitpalgút)
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Hungarian:
eloszlás
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Italian:
distribuzione
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Japanese:
分布
(bunpu)
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Mongolian:
тархалт
(tarxalt)
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Persian:
توزیع
(towzi')
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Polish:
rozkład
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Portuguese:
distribuição
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Romanian:
distribuire
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Romanian:
distribuție
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Russian:
распределе́ние
(raspredelénije)
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Serbo-Croatian:
дистрибуција
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Serbo-Croatian:
расподјела
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Serbo-Croatian:
distribúcija
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Serbo-Croatian:
rȁspodjela
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Spanish:
distribución
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Swedish:
fördelning
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Tagalog:
pamamahagi
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Ukrainian:
розпо́діл
(rozpódil)
— statistics: set of relative likelihoods — see also probability distribution
Finnish:
distro
— software: set of bundled software components — see also distro
Hebrew:
הֲפָצָה
(hafatsá)
— software: set of bundled software components — see also distro
Italian:
distribuzione
— software: set of bundled software components — see also distro
Finnish:
erittely
— logic: resolution of a whole into its parts
Finnish:
vaihe
— steam engines: step in the working cycle
