distributive

UK: /dɪˈstrɪbjʊtɪv/ US: (di strib′yə tiv)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

dis•trib•u•tive  (di strib′yə tiv), adj. 

1. serving to distribute, assign, allot, or divide;
   characterized by or pertaining to distribution.
2. Grammar referring to the members of a group individually, as the adjectives each and every.
3. [Logic.] (of a term) distributed in a given proposition.
4. Mathematics
   • (of a binary operation) having the property that terms in an expression may be expanded in a particular way to form an equivalent expression, as a(b + c) = ab + ac.
   • having reference to this property:
     distributive law for multiplication over addition.
   • Mathematics (of a lattice) having the property that for any three elements, the intersection of the first element with the union of the others is equal to the intersection of the first element with each of the others.

n. 

5. a distributive word or expression.

• Late Latin distribūtīvus (see distribute, -ive)
• Middle French
• late Middle English distributif 1425–75

dis•trib′u•tive•ly, adv. 
dis•trib′u•tive•ness, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

distributive / dɪˈstrɪbjʊtɪv/ adjective

1. characterized by or relating to distribution
2. referring separately to the individual people or items in a group, as the words each and every

noun

1. a distributive word

disˈtributively adverb

disˈtributiveness noun