Word.ws English Dictionary

distributary

/di-ˈstri-byə-ˌter-ē/

distributary adjective: that distributes.

Adjective

distributary (comparative more distributary, superlative most distributary)

  1. That distributes.
    • A posthumous child is as much entitled to a distributary share, under the statute of distributions, as one that is born at the time of the death of its father […]1816, Tapping Reeve, The law of baron and femme, of parent and child, of guardian and ward, of master and servant, and of the powers of courts of chancery
    • […] improving the channels in a distributary unit.1991, Leslie E. Small, Farmer-Financed Irrigation: The Economics of Reform

Noun

distributary (plural distributaries)

  1. A stream of water (either natural or artificial) that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel.
    • The bed of the distributary is at a slight elevation above that of the main canal, and in the latter is placed an ordinary check regulator controlled by flashboards […]1894, Herbert Michael Wilson, Engineering Results of Irrigation Survey, U.S. Government Printing Office, page 270
    • The physical condition of the distributary itself is in bad shape due to poor maintenance over longer periods of time, especially in the head reach.1998, Sediment Behavior of Sangro Distributary, Mirpurkhas Sub-division, Sindh, page 6
    Antonyms:
    tributary

distributary meaning in Kannada

distributary in Kannada

ನದೀ ಶಾಖೆ, ನಾಲೆ, ಹಂಚುವ, ವಿಭಾಗವಾಗುವ

Antonyms of distributary

Forms of distributary

Adjective
comparativemore distributary
superlativemost distributary
Noun
pluraldistributaries

Origin of distributary

From distribute + -ary.

Words formed from distributary

Questions about distributary

What does distributary mean?
Distributary means that distributes.
What is distributary in Kannada?
Distributary in Kannada is ನದೀ ಶಾಖೆ, ನಾಲೆ, ಹಂಚುವ. See Distributary meaning in Kannada.
What part of speech is distributary?
Distributary can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce distributary?
Distributary is pronounced /di-ˈstri-byə-ˌter-ē/ (US).

Words near distributary in the dictionary

  1. distribuends
  2. distributability
  3. distributable
  4. distributables
  5. distributaries
  6. distributary
  7. distribute
  8. distributed
  9. distributed computing
  10. distributed hash table
  11. distributed hash tables

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: distributary (page history and authors); distributary (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “distributary.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/distributary. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.