different between distribution vs quantity

English

Alternative forms

• distribucion (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old French, from Latin distributio, from distribuere 'to distribute', itself from dis- 'apart' + tribuere 'to' (from tribus).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?st???bju???n/

Noun

distribution (countable and uncountable, plural distributions)

1. An act of distributing or state of being distributed.
2. An apportionment by law (of funds, property).
3. (business, marketing) The process by which goods get to final consumers over a geographical market, including storing, selling, shipping and advertising.
4. Anything distributed; portion; share.
   • December 6, 1709, Francis Atterbury, a sermon preach'd before the sons of the clergy at their anniversary-meeting in the Church of St. Paul

     our charitable distributions

5. The result of distributing; arrangement.
6. The total number of something sold or delivered to the clients.

7. The frequency of occurrence or extent of existence.
8. (economics) The apportionment of income or wealth in a population.

   The wealth distribution became extremely skewed in the kleptocracy.

9. (card games) The way in which a player's hand is divided in suits, or in which a particular suit is divided between the players.

10. (mathematics, statistics) A probability distribution; the set of relative likelihoods that a variable will have a value in a given interval.
11. (mathematics, differential geometry) A subset of the tangent bundle of a manifold that satisfies certain properties; used to construct the notions of integrability and foliation of a manifold.
12. (software) A set of bundled software components; distro.
13. (finance) The process or result of the sale of securities, especially their placement among investors with long-term investment strategies.
14. (logic) The resolution of a whole into its parts.
15. (printing, historical) The process of sorting the types and placing them in their proper boxes in the cases.
16. (steam engines) The steps or operations by which steam is supplied to and withdrawn from the cylinder at each stroke of the piston: admission, suppression or cutting off, release or exhaust, and compression of exhaust steam prior to the next admission.
17. (rhetoric) A rhetorical technique in which a subject is divided into multiple cases based on some property or properties, and each case is addressed individually.
    • 1553, Thomas Wilson, The Arte of Rhetorique (1962), book iii, folio 99, page 209 s.v. “Di?tribucion”:

      It is al?o called a di?tribucion, when we diuide the whole, into ?euerall partes, and ?aie we haue foure poynctes, whereof we purpo?e to ?peake, comp?ehendyng our whole talke within compa??e of the?ame.

    • 1728, Ephraim Chambers, Cyclopædia I, page 230/2 s.v. “Di?tribution²”:

      Di?tribution, in Rhetoric, a Kind of De?cription; or a Figure, whereby an orderly Divi?ion, and Enumeration is made of the principal Qualities of a Subject.

Derived terms

Related terms

• distributee
• distributive
• distributor

Translations

References

• “Distribution” on page 534 of § 1 (D, ed. James Augustus Henry Murray) of volume III (D–E, 1897) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (1st ed.)

Further reading

• Distribution on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Danish

Noun

distribution c (singular definite distributionen, plural indefinite distributioner)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Declension

Further reading

• “distribution” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

From Classical Latin distributio, from distribuere 'to distribute', itself from dis- 'apart' + tribuere 'to ' (from tribus).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dis.t?i.by.sj??/

Noun

distribution f (plural distributions)

1. A distribution
2. A physical arrangement, spacing

Related terms

• distribuable
• distribuer
• distributaire m
• distributeur m
• distributif
• distributivement

Further reading

• “distribution” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Swedish

Noun

distribution c

1. distribution, dissemination
2. (mathematics) a distribution, generalized function
3. (statistics) a distribution

Declension

Synonyms

• spridning

statistics

• fördelning

English

Etymology

From Middle English quantite, from Old French quantité, from Latin quantit?s (“quantity”), from quantus (“how much”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?kw?n.t?.ti/
• (General American) enPR: kw?n?(t)?t?, IPA^(key): /?kw?n(t)?ti/, [?k?w?n(?)??i], [?k?w?n(t?)?t?i]
  • Note: This is with a relaxed middle T, and is only used in colloquial contexts by many speakers.
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /?kw?nd?di/, /?kw?n???i/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /?kwæn.t?.ti/

Noun

quantity (countable and uncountable, plural quantities)

1. A fundamental, generic term used when referring to the measurement (count, amount) of a scalar, vector, number of items or to some other way of denominating the value of a collection or group of items.

2. An indefinite amount of something.

   Some soap making oils are best as base oils, used in a larger quantity in the soap, while other oils are best added in a small quantity.

3. A specific measured amount.

4. A considerable measure or amount.

5. (metrology) Property of a phenomenon, body, or substance, where the property has a magnitude that can be expressed as number and a reference.
6. (mathematics) Indicates that the entire preceding expression is henceforth considered a single object.
   • 2006, Jerome E. Kaufmann and Karen Schwitters, Elementary and Intermediate Algebra: A Combined Approach, p 89

     For problems 58-67, translate each word phrase into an algebraic expression. […] 65. x plus 9, the quantity squared

   • 2005, R. Mark Sirkin, Statistics For The Social Sciences, p137

     The second, ${\displaystyle (\sum x)^{2}}$, read "summation of x, quantity squared," tells us to first add up all the xs to get ${\displaystyle \sum x}$ and then square ${\displaystyle \sum x}$ to get ${\displaystyle (\sum x)^{2}}$.

   • 1985, Serge Lang, Math!: Encounters with High School Students, p54

     ANN. ${\displaystyle ra}$ quantity cubed.

     SERGE LANG. That's right, ${\displaystyle (ra)^{3}}$.

Usage notes

• In mathematics, used to unambiguously orate mathematical equations; it is extremely rare in print, since there is no need for it there.

Synonyms

• Qty

Derived terms

• unknown quantity

Related terms

Translations

See also

• measure
• unit

Further reading

• quantity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• quantity in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• quantity at OneLook Dictionary Search