Distributive \Dis*trib"u*tive\, a. [Cf. F. distributif.]
1. Tending to distribute; serving to divide and assign in
portions; dealing to each his proper share. ``Distributive
justice.'' --Swift.
2. (Logic) Assigning the species of a general term.
3. (Gram.) Expressing separation; denoting a taking singly,
not collectively; as, a distributive adjective or pronoun,
such as each, either, every; a distributive numeral, as
(Latin) bini (two by two).
Distributive operation (Math.), any operation which either
consists of two or more parts, or works upon two or more
things, and which is such that the result of the total
operation is the same as the aggregated result of the two
or more partial operations. Ordinary multiplication is
distributive, since a [times] (b + c) = ab + ac, and (a +
b) [times] c = ac + bc.
Distributive proportion. (Math.) See Fellowship.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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