the act of distributing or the state or manner of being distributed a thing or portion distributed arrangement or location the process of physically satisfying the demand for goods and services the division of the total income of a community among its members, esp between labour incomes (wages and salaries) and property incomes (rents, interest, and dividends) the set of possible values of a random variable, or points in a sample space, considered in terms of new theoretical or observed frequency the apportioning of the estate of a deceased intestate among the persons entitled to share in it the lawful division of the assets of a bankrupt among his or her creditors the division of part of a company's profit as a dividend to its shareholders the amount paid by dividend in a particular distribution the way in which the fuel-air mixture is supplied to each cylinder of a multicylinder internal-combustion engine
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
dis•tri•bu•tion /ˌdɪstrəˈbyuʃən/USA pronunciation
n. selling or supplying of merchandise in an area:[uncountable]in charge of distribution of goods for the region.
arrangement;
grouping:[uncountable]the distribution of schools in different neighborhoods.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- [countable* usually singular] an act or instance of distributing:a more equitable distribution of wealth among rich and poor nations.
grouping:[uncountable]the distribution of schools in different neighborhoods.
dis•tri•bu•tion
(dis′trə byo̅o̅′shən),USA pronunciation n.
dis′tri•bu′tion•al, adj.
- an act or instance of distributing.
- the state or manner of being distributed.
- Philosophyarrangement;
classification. - something that is distributed.
- the frequency of occurrence or the natural geographic range or place where any item or category of items occurs:What is the distribution of coniferous forests in the world?
- placement, location, arrangement, or disposition:The distribution of our troops is a military secret.
- apportionment:The court decided the distribution of the property among the heirs.
- the delivery or giving out of an item or items to the intended recipients, as mail or newspapers.
- the total number of an item delivered, sold, or given out:The distribution of our school paper is now 800.
- the marketing, transporting, merchandising, and selling of any item.
- Games(in bridge and other card games) the way in which the suits of a deck of cards are, or one specific suit is, divided or apportioned in one player's hand or among the hands of all the players:My distribution was six spades, four hearts, two clubs, and a singleton diamond.
- [Econ.]
- the division of the aggregate income of any society among its members, or among the factors of production.
- the system of dispersing goods throughout a community.
- Statisticsa set of values or measurements of a set of elements, each measurement being associated with an element.
- Mathematicsa generalized function used esp. in solving differential equations.
- Latin distribūtiōn- (stem of distribūtiō). See distribute, -ion
- Anglo-French)
- late Middle English (1375–1425
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'age distribution' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):