distribution
/ˌdɪstɹɪˈbjuʃən/noun
distribution is spelled D-I-S-T-R-I-B-U-T-I-O-N. The wrong spelling people search most is distrubution: about 220 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 35 of all searches for the word. Distribution is a noun meaning “An act of distributing or state of being distributed”. The plural of distribution is distributions or χ² distributions.
How many letters and syllables are in distribution?
| Letters | 12: D-I-S-T-R-I-B-U-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 44 times per million words; the 2,290th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, distrubution, about 220 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell distribution?
Distribution is spelled D-I-S-T-R-I-B-U-T-I-O-N. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 35 of the searches for distribution in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is distribution?
Distribution appears 44 times per million words in written English, the 2,290th 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 distribution?
- UK /ˌdɪstɹɪˈbjuːʃən/
- US /ˌdɪstɹɪˈbjuʃən/
- US /ˌdɪstɹəˈbjuʃən/
Distribution has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-distribution.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-distribution.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with distribution?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as distribution from its last stressed vowel (/uʃən/):
- institution
- contribution
- pollution
- prosecution
- persecution
- dissolution
- substitution
- restitution
- dilution
- Confucian
- destitution
- Rosicrucian
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of distribution
- distributions plural
- χ² distributions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does distribution mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An act of distributing or state of being distributed.
- 2
An apportionment by law (of funds, property).
- 3
The process by which goods get to final consumers over a geographical market, including storing, selling, shipping and advertising.
- 4
Anything distributed; portion; share.
December 6, 1709, Francis Atterbury, a sermon preach'd before the sons of the clergy at their anniversary-meeting in the Church of St. Paul our charitable distributions
- 5
The result of distributing; arrangement.
- 6
The total number of something sold or delivered to the clients.
The distribution of my little rock magazine is about 3,000.
- 7
The frequency of occurrence or extent of existence.
- 8
The apportionment of income or wealth in a population.
The wealth distribution became extremely skewed in the kleptocracy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate distribution?
Wiktionary records 3 abbreviations of distribution: dist, distr, distr..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Distribution in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | distribution |
| German | Distribution, Verbreitung, Austeilung , Aufteilung , Absatz |
| Portuguese | distribuição , parte, porção |
| Spanish | distribución, capitación, cabezaje |
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 distribution come from?
From Old French distribution, from Latin distributio, from distribuere 'to distribute', itself from dis- 'apart' + tribuere 'to' (from tribus). By surface analysis, distribute + -ion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).