distributed

[dih-strib-yoo-tid]

adjective

1. Computers.

   1. being or relating to a network of devices, workstations, etc., in different locations connected by means of one or more other networks, allowing each member to carry out some or all of the management and processing of the shared information.

      As computers began to connect across the internet, the CPU evolved from being specifically a central control system to become a node within a distributed network.

   2. being or relating to a single database shared across such a network, especially one integrating multiple smaller databases.

      Back then no one was thinking of distributed databases with hundreds of servers working to keep data consistent across the nodes.

2. Linguistics.,  (in distinctive feature analysis) characterized by relatively extensive contact or constriction between the articulating organs, as the in show in contrast to the in so.

3. Statistics.,  showing a specified type of distribution.

   A randomly distributed dominant gene has a prevalence of 75 percent.

Other Word Forms

• undistributed adjective
• well-distributed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of distributed¹

distribute + -ed ²

Example Sentences

"We don't want to live in a jungle. We demand aid be secured and respectfully distributed," said Mohammed Zarab.

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"For us, it was very important to get the product broadly distributed," Leiner told AFP.

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The school district distributed millions of meals to needy families and then, as campuses reopened, worked to upgrade air filtration systems inside schools.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Cogat, the Israeli military body overseeing the entry of aid into Gaza, said 500 trucks had entered on Thursday of which around 300 were distributed inside Gaza by the UN and other organisations.

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As part of a national settlement that includes opioid distributors and manufacturers, opioid abatement settlement funds are being distributed among the hardest hit areas of the country.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• appropriated www.thesaurus.com
• assigned www.thesaurus.com
• dispersed www.thesaurus.com
• scattered 
• shared www.thesaurus.com