Adjacent Words

Distributive definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DISTRIBUTIVE, a.
1. That distributes; that divides and assigns in portions; that deals to each his proper share; as distributive justice.
2. That assigns the various species of a general term.
3. That separates or divides; as a distributive adjective.
DISTRIBUTIVE, n. In grammar, a word that divides or distributes, as each and every, which represent the individuals of a collective number as separate.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: serving to distribute or allot or disperse [ant: collective]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 15th century 1. of or relating to distribution: as a. dealing a proper share to each of a group b. diffusing more or less evenly 2. of a word referring singly and without exception to the members of a group <each, either, and none are distributive> 3. a. being an operation (as multiplication in a(b + c) = ab + ac) that produces the same result when operating on the whole mathematical expression as when operating on each part and collecting the results b. being or relating to a rule or property concerning a distributive operation <the distributive property of multiplication with respect to addition> • distributively adverb • distributivity noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 of, concerned with, or produced by distribution. 2 Logic & Gram. (of a pronoun etc.) referring to each individual of a class, not to the class collectively (e.g. each, either). --n. Gram. a distributive word. Derivatives: distributively adv. Etymology: ME f. F distributif -ive or LL distributivus (as DISTRIBUTE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Distributive Dis*trib"u*tive, n. (Gram.) A distributive adjective or pronoun; also, a distributive numeral.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Distributive Dis*trib"u*tive, a. [Cf. F. distributif.] 1. Tending to distribute; serving to divide and assign in portions; dealing to each his proper share. ``Distributive justice.'' --Swift. 2. (Logic) Assigning the species of a general term. 3. (Gram.) Expressing separation; denoting a taking singly, not collectively; as, a distributive adjective or pronoun, such as each, either, every; a distributive numeral, as (Latin) bini (two by two). Distributive operation (Math.), any operation which either consists of two or more parts, or works upon two or more things, and which is such that the result of the total operation is the same as the aggregated result of the two or more partial operations. Ordinary multiplication is distributive, since a [times] (b + c) = ab + ac, and (a + b) [times] c = ac + bc. Distributive proportion. (Math.) See Fellowship.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Distributive means relating to the distribution of goods. Reorganization is necessary on the distributive side of this industry. ADJ: ADJ n

Moby Thesaurus

attenuative, diffractional, diffractive, diffusive, dispersive, disseminative, dissipative, distributional, equal, even stephen, fifty-fifty, half, half-and-half, halvers, particular, per capita, per head, pro rata, proportional, proportionate, prorated, respective, scattering, several, spreading