distributionn.
/ˌdɪstrᵻˈbjuːʃn/, U.S. /ˌdɪstrəˈbjuʃən/ The action of distributing.
1.
a. The action of dividing and dealing out or bestowing in portions among a number of recipients; apportionment, allotment.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > giving > distributing or dealing out > [noun]
dolec1275
dealing1377
distribution1382
dispensationa1387
spreading1601
dispensing1608
distributing1663
participation1755
doling1876
handout1913
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Heb. ii. 4 God witnessynge by sygnes, wondris..and distribucions [a1425 L.V. departyngis] of the Hooly Gost.
1413 Pilgr. Sowle (1483) iv. xxxiv. 82 They taken hede of alle makynge suche distribucions, so that eueriche haue that hym oweth.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 122 The inequalyte of dystrybutyon of the commyn offycys.
1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ i. v. §8 Joseph..made a new distribution of the whole Land.
1726 Bp. J. Butler 15 Serm. iii. 54 All shall be set right at the final Distribution of things.
1770 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra (1772) II. xxxix. 98 The crown..will lose nothing in this new distribution of power.
1894 Times 21 Dec. 11/5 The annual distribution of prizes and certificates to the pupils.
b. Political Economy (a) The dispersal among consumers of commodities produced: this being, as opposed to production, the business of commerce. (b) The division of the aggregate produce of the industry of any society among its individual members, as in ‘the unequal distribution of the fruits of industry’.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > [noun]
salec1050
sellinga1325
merchandisinga1425
utterance1436
venting1532
vendition1542
vent1548
assale1566
ventage1577
vent1583
vending1666
distribution1793
flogging1919
turnaround1936
1793 tr. A. R. J. Turgot (title) Reflections on the formation and distribution of wealth.
1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. I. Contents p. vii Labour employed..in the transport and distribution of the produce.
1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. I. Prelim. Remarks 24 The diversities in the distribution of wealth, are still greater than in the production.
1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. I. Prelim. Remarks 26 The laws of Production and Distribution..are the subject of the following treatise.
1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. I. ii. i. 244 A system of community of property and equal distribution of the produce.
1896 N.E.D. at Distribution Mod. By the system of middlemen which now prevails the cost of distribution is disproportionately great compared with that of production.
2.
a. The action of spreading abroad or dispersing to or over every part of a space or area; the condition or mode of being so dispersed or located all over an area; sometimes without implying actual dispersal from a centre.†In older Physiology (esp. before the discovery of the circulation of the blood), applied to the dispersal of the assimilated food to all parts of the body.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > digestive or excretive organs > digestive organs > [noun] > digestion > digestive process
distribution1589
concoction1594
absorption1844
peptic digestion1877
the world > space > extension in space > spreading or diffusion > [noun]
spreadinga1250
skeltingc1540
diffusion1585
prosemination1611
scatter1642
dissemination1646
radiation1658
dispersion1664
spread1757
distribution1860
dispersal1863
scatteration1892
spreadation1925
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxv. 253 Helping the naturall concoction, retention, distribution, expulsion, and other vertues, in a weake and vnhealthie bodie.
1620 T. Venner Via Recta v. 90 It is..hard of concoction, and of very slow distribution.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) The Distribution of the Food throughout all the Parts of the Body, is one of the greatest Wonders in Nature.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. iii. 31 This distribution of temperature must..have some influence on the shape of the [hail] stone.
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) III. 657 [article Printing-machine] There are three or four small rollers of distribution..by [a] compound movement they are enabled..to effect a perfect distribution of the ink along the table.
1877 T. H. Huxley Man. Anat. Invertebrated Animals 19 Certain areas of the earth's surface are inhabited by groups of animals and plants which are not found elsewhere..Such areas are termed Provinces of Distribution.
1885 W. L. Davidson Logic of Definition x. 296 This Order..has such and such a geographical distribution.
1889 A. R. Wallace Darwinism 340 How animals and plants have acquired their present peculiarities of distribution.
b. The occurrence of linguistic elements in a language, in terms of their characteristic position or context (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1933 L. Bloomfield Lang. v. 81 Non-distinctive features occur in all manner of distributions.
1951 Z. S. Harris Methods in Struct. Ling. ii. 15 The distribution of an element is the total of all environments in which it occurs.
1953 C. E. Bazell Ling. Form 6 And if distribution is (as will generally be granted) the surest clue to semantics, it is neither a semantic unit, nor the basis of semantic analysis.
1964 R. A. Hall Introd. Ling. v. 26 By distribution, we mean the conditions under which the various elements (allophones, allomorphs, etc.) occur.
3.
a. The orderly dividing of a mass or collective body into parts with distinctive characters or functions; the orderly arrangement of the parts into which any whole is divided; division and arrangement; classification.
ΚΠ
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning i. sig. H1 So in the distribution of dayes, we see the day wherein God did rest, & contemplate his owne works, was blessed. View more context for this quotation
1668 M. Hale Pref. Rolle's Abridgm. 6 The Common-Law..wants method, order, and apt distributions.
1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville Theory & Pract. Gardening 201 Care should be taken in this Distribution, that the Fountains be disposed in such manner, that they may be seen almost all at a time.
1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France Pref. p. iv A commodious division and distribution of his matter. View more context for this quotation
1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xiii. 218 The distribution of land into parishes.
b. concrete. A division.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > one of the parts into which anything is divided
dealinga1300
divisionc1374
partc1392
spacec1392
long divisionc1400
severingc1400
skyvaldc1400
foddinga1425
panelc1450
partition1561
roomstead1600
canton1601
separation1604
share1643
scissurea1667
cutting1726
departmenta1735
segment1762
compartment1793
distribution1829
segregation1859
dept.1869
section1875
tmema1891
1829 R. Southey Oliver Newman vii Omitting The minor distributions (which are many And barbarous all) suffice it to name these..the Pequods first; The Narhagansets [etc.].
c. Statistics. The way in which a particular measurement or characteristic is spread over the members of a class.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > distribution
distribution1854
random distribution1882
frequency distribution1895
probability distribution1895
Poisson distribution1898
binomial distribution1911
Student's t-distribution1925
sampling distribution1928
probability density1931
Poisson1940
beta distribution1941
Cauchy distribution1948
geometric distribution1950
1854 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 67 396 The very cause which determined the distribution of the atomic weights according to a numerical law.
1886 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 15 351 (title) The comparative distribution of Jewish ability.
1895 K. Pearson in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 186 412 A method is given of expressing any frequency distribution by a series of differences of inverse factorials with arbitrary constants.
1959 Chambers's Encycl. XIII. 150/1 Further examples..are distributions according to income, volume of trade, height and weight.
1971 Nature 18 June 416/3 The NSF survey gives the following distribution of graduate students by area of science..: physical sciences 18 per cent.., social sciences 21 per cent [etc.].
4. Logic.† a. In the earlier English writers used for what is now called division n., i.e. the logical division of a genus (a logical whole) into the several species included under it; more broadly, the partition of a whole into the integral or constituent parts contained in it. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > [noun] > logical analysis
partitionc1450
division1551
resolution1557
analytics1574
distribution1588
analysis1756
1588 A. Fraunce Lawiers Logike i. xiii. f. 56v A distribution is when the whole is distributed into his partes.
1628 T. Spencer Art of Logick 143 When we say, a man hath two parts, soule and bodie: Living Creatures are reasonable, and vnreasonable, then we make a distribution.
1698 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. IV. 325 Then he would have given us a full distribution of Immorality, to which all the Instances of it might be reduced.
1725 I. Watts Logick i. vi. §10 The word distribution is most properly used, when we distinguish an universal whole into several kinds of species.
b. More recently, after Scholastic usage of Latin distribuere, distributio: The application of a term to each and all of the several individual instances included in its denotation or extension; the acceptation of a term in a general sense including every individual to which it is applicable.Said of a term qualified explicitly or implicitly by such marks of universality (signa universalia) as all, each, every, any, etc.; the one simple common term being treated as ‘distributed’ over all its significates; e.g. in every man, the term man is spread out over, or dispersed among, this, that, and every other individual man.This use of distributio (which turns on the question discussed in Plato, Parm. 130 seqq.), first appears in the Schoolmen of the 13th cent., as Shyreswod, and especially Petrus Hispanus (1226–1277), of whose Summulæ the 7th chapter deals with the properties of terms, including Distribution, as an appendix to the exposition of the Organon, and with special reference to the solution of sophisms. The term apparently came into English logic through the medium of Aldrich: see distribute v. 6.The speculation in Latham's Johnson at Distributed is wholly gratuitous, and ignores the history of the word.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical classification > [noun] > logical extension > application to all individuals
distribution1827
distributivity1940
c1250 Petrus Hispanus Summulae Logicales vii. 5. 1 Distributio est multiplicatio termini communis per signum universale facta, ut cum dicitur ‘omnis homo’, iste terminus ‘homo’ distribuitur sive confunditur pro quolibet suo inferiori.]
1827 R. Whately Elem. Logic i. §5 ‘All food’, or every kind of food, are expressions which imply the distribution of the term ‘food’; ‘some food’ would imply its non-distribution.
1849 H. L. Mansel Artis Logicæ Rudim. of Aldrich iii. §3. 4 (note) Distribution is not an Aristotelian term. It forms part of what the Schoolmen call parva logicalia; a kind of appendix to analyses of the Organon; containing matters, some evolved from..Aristotle, others complete innovations..The syllogistic rules concerning distribution are of course implied in Aristotle's account of each figure, though not enumerated separately, as common to all.
1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic v. 126 The distribution of the Subject depends upon the Quantity of the Judgment.
1887 T. Fowler Elem. Deduct. Logic (ed. 9) iv. 34 The distribution or non-distribution of an attributive, as ‘human’, ‘red’, etc., follows that of the corresponding common term, ‘human being’, ‘red thing’, etc.
5. Rhetoric. (See quots.)
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > [noun] > rhetoric > rhetorical terms
rhetoric1543
distribution1553
anamnesis1656
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique iii. f. 99 It is also called a distribucion, when we deuide the whole into seuerall partes, and saie we haue foure poynctes, wherof we purpose to speake, comprehendyng our whole talke within compasse of thesame.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Distribution, in Rhetoric, a Kind of Description; or a Figure, whereby an orderly Division, and Enumeration is made of the principal Qualities of a Subject.
6. Architecture. The arrangement of the several parts of a building, esp. of the interior divisions or apartments. (Cf. disposition n. 1d.)
ΚΠ
1624 H. Wotton Elements Archit. 120 Distributio is that vsefull Casting of all Roomes for Office, Entertainement, or Pleasure, which I haue handled before.]
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Distribution of the Plan, is the dividing, and dispensing the several Parts, and Pieces, which compose the Plan of a Building.
1867 W. Papworth Gwilt's Encycl. Archit. (rev. ed.) ii. iv. 792 Distribution and disposition are the first objects that should engage the architect's attention, even of him whose great aim is to strike the attention by ornament, which can never please unless its source can be traced to the most convenient and economical distribution of the leading parts.
7. Printing. The action or process of distributing type: see distribute v. 5.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > post-printing processes > [noun] > distributing type
distributing1683
distribution1728
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Distribution, in Printing, the taking a Form a-sunder, separating the Letters, and disposing 'em in the Cases again, each in its proper Cell.
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) III. 651 Distribution is performed four times faster than composition.
Categories »
8. Steam-engine. ‘The steps or operations by which steam is supplied to and withdrawn from the cylinder at each stroke of the piston; viz., admission, suppression or cutting off, release or exhaust, and compression of exhaust steam prior to the next admission’ (Webster 1864).
Compounds
distribution board n. an insulated panel carrying terminals, fuses, etc., for controlling a number of subsidiary electrical circuits.
ΚΠ
1907 Installation News Apr. 11/2 The ordinary type of distribution board where the switches and fuses are enclosed under one cover.
1933 Archit. Rev. 74 202 Most buildings are now wired on the ‘distribution board’ method which collects all fuses together.
distribution map n. (see quot. 1951).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > map > [noun] > other types of map
mappa mundia1387
mappemondea1393
table1610
Mercator's chart1645
Peutingerian tablea1657
Mercator1694
hemisphere1706
Peutinger1731
road map1741
geological map1798
route map1816
ordnance map1828
outline map1836
contour map1862
index map1869
hypsographical map1881
soil map1898
wheel-map1899
strip map1903
distribution map1947
worm's-eye map1964
topo1970
1947 J. Hawkes & C. Hawkes Prehist. Brit. vii. 177 For all work of this kind..the prehistorian uses distribution-maps. In these the find-spots..are plotted on a map.
1951 Oxf. Junior Encycl. IV. 254/1 In recent years new kinds of maps have been developed to show such things as the distribution of rainfall, temperature, population, crops, and other things of importance and interest. These are called distribution maps, or statistical maps.
Draft additions 1993
distribution function n. Mathematics (a) the number of distinct ways in which a given number of objects can be distributed according to a particular partition (partition n. 4b); (b) any non-decreasing function which takes non-negative values and tends to a maximum of 1, esp. when considered as the integral of a corresponding probability density function.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > algebra > [noun] > expression > function
function1758
exponential1784
potential function1828
syzygy1850
permutant1852
Green function1863
theta-function1871
Greenian1876
Gudermannian1876
discriminoid1877
Weierstrassian function1878
gradient1887
beta function1888
distribution function1889
Riemann zeta function1899
Airy integral1903
Poisson bracket1904
Stirling approximation1908
functional1915
metric1921
Fourier transform1923
recursive function1934
utility function1934
Airy function1939
transfer function1948
objective function1949
restriction1949
multifunction1954
restriction mapping1956
scalar function1956
Langevin function1960
mass function1961
1889 Proc. London Math. Soc. 19 223 The Distribution Function of n objects into parcels (p1 q1 r1..) is the expression Σ A(pqr..),(p1q1r1..) (pqr..), where p + q + r..= n.
1924 Astrophysical Jrnl. 59 313 The distribution function for velocity has been established.
1935 Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 38 48 The proper method in dealing with distribution functions and their convolutions..is the method of Fourier transforms.
1980 A. J. Jones Game Theory i. 49 A distribution function on [0, 1] is a non-decreasing real valued function F such that 0≦F(x)≦1 and F(1) = 1.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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