dis·trib·ut·ed \-yə̇d.ə̇d, -yə̇tə̇d\adjective Etymology: from past participle of distribute 1.: characterized by a statistical distribution of a particular kind < independently distributed random variables > 2.: of, relating to, or being a computer network in which at least some of the processing is done by the individual workstations and information is shared by and often stored at the workstations