See Also: distributive(medicine)
distributive(dictionary)
distributive law(encyclopedia)
distributive(dictionary)
distributive analysis(medicine)
distributive shock(medicine)
DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE(law)

distributive (iou)



distributive adjective & noun. LME.
[Old & mod. French distributif, -ive or late Latin distributivus, formed as DISTRIBUTE: see -IVE.]
A. adjective.
Having the property of distributing; characterized by dealing out in portions or by spreading; given to or engaged in distribution. LME.
distributive fault Geology: affecting several parallel planes each close to its neighbour.
Expressing distribution; Grammar & Logic referring to each individual of a class, not to the class collectively. LME.
distributive adjective, distributive pronoun: denoting one or more individuals of a class, not the class collectively, e.g. each, either, every.
Of, concerned with, or produced by distribution; spec. pertaining to or designating a political system etc. under which property is owned by the largest possible number of people. M16.
distributive justice justice consisting in the distribution of something in shares proportionate to each recipient's deserts; esp. justice concerned with the distribution of rights, duties, etc., among individuals and groups in society.
Math. Governed by or stating the condition that when an operation is performed on two or more quantities already combined by a second operation, the result is the same as when it is performed on each quantity individually and the products then combined, e.g. that a(b+c)=(ab)+(ac). M19.
B. Russell The associative, commutative, and distributive laws. A. G. Howson The binary operation is distributive over ?.
b. noun. Grammar. A distributive word. M16.
distributively adverb L16.
distributiveness noun M17.
distribu'tivity noun (esp. Math.) M20.