distributive
/dɪsˈtɹɪbjʊtɪv/adjective, noun
distributive is spelled D-I-S-T-R-I-B-U-T-I-V-E: 12 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,949th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, distributive means “Relating to distribution” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in distributive?
| Letters | 12: D-I-S-T-R-I-B-U-T-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,949th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is distributive?
Distributive appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,949th 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 distributive?
- /dɪsˈtɹɪbjʊtɪv/
Distributive 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-distributive.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of distributive
- more distributive comparative
- most distributive superlative
- distributives plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does distributive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Relating to distribution.
- 2
Tending to distribute; serving to divide and assign in portions; dealing a proper share to each.
- 3
A property of functions that have a rule describing how the function can be performed to the individual components of another operation.
If function f is distributive with respect to function g, then f(a,g(b,c))=g(f(a,b),f(a,c)).
- 4
Assigning the species of a general term.
- 5
Expressing separation; denoting a taking singly, not collectively.
a distributive adjective or pronoun, such as "each", "either", or "every"
noun
- 1
distributive case
- 2
A distributive adjective or pronoun.
- 3
A distributive numeral.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Distributive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | distributif |
| German | distributiv |
| Portuguese | distributivo |
| Spanish | distributivo |
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 distributive come from?
From Middle French distributif, from Latin distribūtīvus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).