Word.ws English Dictionary

distributed

Syllables: dis·trib·ut·edUK/dɪˈstɹɪbjutɪd//dɪˈstɹɪbjutɪd/

distributed is the simple past and past participle of distribute.

Adjective

distributed (comparative more distributed, superlative most distributed)

  1. Spread across a relatively wide area.
    • Webster and Wong (2008) found that semivirtual teams had more positive perceptions of their local teammates compared to the distributed teammates […]2014, Jessica L. Wildman, Richard L. Griffith, Leading Global Teams, page 80
  2. Involving numerous separate computers or entities, rather than the traditional one.
    • distributed computing
    • distributed ray tracing

Meaning of distribute

Verb

distribute (third-person singular simple present distributes, present participle distributing, simple past and past participle distributed)

  1. (transitive) To divide into portions and dispense.
    • He distributed the bread amongst his followers.
    Synonyms:
    allot
  2. (transitive) To supply to retail outlets.
    • The agency distributes newspapers to local shops.
  3. (transitive) To deliver or pass out.
    • A network of children distributes flyers to every house.
    Synonyms:
    courier
  4. (transitive) To scatter or spread.
    • I raked the soil then distributed grass seed.
    Synonyms:
    disperse
  5. (transitive) To apportion (more or less evenly).
    • The robot's six legs distributed its weight over a wide area.
  6. (transitive) To classify or separate into categories.
    • The database distributed verbs into transitive and intransitive segments.
    Synonyms:
    categorize

See all 11 meanings of distribute

Forms of distributed

comparativemore distributed
superlativemost distributed

Words formed from distributed

Phrases with distributed

Questions about distributed

What does distributed mean?
Distributed means spread across a relatively wide area.
What is distributed the simple past and past participle of?
Distributed is the simple past and past participle of distribute.
What part of speech is distributed?
Distributed is an adjective.
How do you pronounce distributed?
Distributed is pronounced /dɪˈstɹɪbjutɪd/ (UK).

Words near distributed in the dictionary

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

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: distributed (page history and authors); distribute (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.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-distributed.ogg.

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