distribution
/,distri'bju:ʃn/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- The act or process of giving out or delivering something to multiple recipients or locations: This refers to the systematic sharing, spreading, or apportioning of items, resources, or information.
- The way in which something is spread or arranged over an area or among a group: This describes the spatial arrangement, pattern, or geographic spread of elements.
- (Statistics) An arrangement of values of a variable showing their observed or theoretical frequency of occurrence: This is a technical term for a summary of how often different values appear in a dataset.
Usage
- General Use: "Distribution" is commonly used to describe the logistics of getting products from manufacturers to stores or customers. It also describes how things are spread out in space or within a population.
- Formal/Technical Use: In fields like statistics, biology, or linguistics, it has precise meanings related to patterns of occurrence or arrangement.
Examples
- Commercial/Logistics:
- The company improved its distribution network to deliver goods faster.
- Efficient distribution is key to a successful business.
- Spatial/Geographic Arrangement:
- The map shows the population distribution across the country.
- The distribution of rainfall is uneven in this region.
- Statistical Arrangement:
- The graph displays a normal distribution of test scores.
- Analyzing the frequency distribution helps understand the data's pattern.
Advanced Usage
- In Linguistics: "Complementary distribution" describes a relationship where two linguistic elements (like sounds) never appear in the same context.
- The two allophones are in complementary distribution.
- In Mathematics/Statistics: Terms like "probability distribution," "binomial distribution," or "skewed distribution" specify the mathematical model of frequency.
- The Poisson distribution is often used to model rare events.
Variants and Related Words
- Distribute (verb): To give out or deliver something to people or places.
- They will distribute the flyers tomorrow.
- Distributor (noun): A person or company that supplies goods to stores or other businesses.
- He works as a film distributor.
- Distributive (adjective): Relating to the act of distribution.
- They studied the distributive effects of the new tax policy.
Synonyms
- Dispersion: The action or process of distributing things or people over a wide area.
- Allocation: The action or process of distributing resources or duties.
- Circulation: The movement or passage of something through a system or area (e.g., blood, information, magazines).
Related Phrases
- Distribution channel: The chain of businesses or intermediaries through which a good or service passes until it reaches the end consumer.
- They used multiple distribution channels, including online and retail stores.
- Wide/narrow distribution: Describing the extent of geographic or demographic spread.
- The plant has a very wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica.
Idioms
(Note: "Distribution" itself is not commonly used in idiomatic expressions. The related verb "distribute" is used in some set phrases.) - To distribute evenly: To spread something out in a uniform manner. - Make sure to distribute the seeds evenly across the soil.
Noun
- the commercial activity of transporting and selling goods from a producer to a consumer
- the act of distributing or spreading or apportioning
- the spatial or geographic property of being scattered about over a range, area, or volume
- worldwide in distribution
- the distribution of nerve fibers
- in complementary distribution
- (statistics) an arrangement of values of a variable showing their observed or theoretical frequency of occurrence