distribution
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the act of giving things out to a large group of people.
the act of apportioning or delivering items to a number of recipients.
Simple“The charity organized the distribution of food and blankets to the families after the storm.”
In context“The rapid distribution of emergency supplies was hampered by the collapse of several key bridges in the rural provinces.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
the process of moving goods from a factory to shops and customers.
the commercial activity of transporting and selling goods from producers to consumers.
Simple“The company is looking for a new partner to handle the distribution of its products in Europe.”
In context“By streamlining their distribution network, the manufacturer managed to reduce delivery times by nearly forty percent across the domestic market.”
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
the way that something is spread across an area or among a group.
the frequency of occurrence or the spatial arrangement of something within a specific area or population.
Simple“The map shows the distribution of different types of trees across the country.”
In context“Ecologists are concerned that the uneven distribution of rainfall this season will negatively impact the migratory patterns of local bird species.”
SynonymsAntonyms - 04 C1 Advanced
a set of numbers showing how often different things happen in a study.
a mathematical function or table that shows the possible values for a variable and how often they occur.
Simple“The test scores followed a normal distribution, with most students getting an average grade.”
In context“The researchers analyzed the wealth distribution within the city to determine the extent of economic inequality between different neighborhoods.”
- 05 C1 Advanced
a specific version of a software package, like a version of Linux.
a specific collection of software components bundled together for installation and use.
Simple“He decided to install a popular Linux distribution on his old laptop to make it run faster.”
In context“The developer maintained a custom distribution of the operating system, specifically optimized for high-performance server environments.”
Usage distribution transmission · distribution vary · emotional distribution
“It continued long after the unification of the country, however, and by the 18th century the current marked population distribution could already be seen.”
“Last year, the film finance and distribution company Ketchup Entertainment bought it for about $50m .”
From Old French, from Latin distributio, from distribuere 'to distribute', itself from dis- 'apart' + tribuere 'to' (from tribus). By surface analysis, distribute + -ion.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.