distributary
/di-ˈstri-byə-ˌter-ē/adjective, noun
distributary is spelled D-I-S-T-R-I-B-U-T-A-R-Y: 12 letters. It appears about once in every 22 million words in written English, the 143,405th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, distributary means “That distributes” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in distributary?
| Letters | 12: D-I-S-T-R-I-B-U-T-A-R-Y |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 22 million words; the 143,405th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is distributary?
Distributary appears about once in every 22 million words in written English, the 143,405th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce distributary?
- US /di-ˈstri-byə-ˌter-ē/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Yangolin-distributary.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of distributary
- more distributary comparative
- most distributary superlative
- distributaries plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does distributary mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
That distributes.
noun
- 1
A stream of water (either natural or artificial) that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Distributary in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a stream of water that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | distributario |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does distributary come from?
From distribute + -ary.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).