noun
- Words or expressions that refer to members of a group individually rather than collectively.
Usage: linguistics; grammar
adjective
- Relating to or denoting a word, phrase, or construction that refers to individual members of a group separately.
Usage: linguistics; grammar
Examples
- In the sentence 'Each student received a diploma,' the word 'each' is a distributive.
- The distributive pronoun 'every' emphasizes individual members rather than the group as a whole.
- Distributives like 'either,' 'neither,' and 'both' are commonly used in English grammar.
- The phrase 'one by one' has a distributive meaning, indicating individual succession.
- In logic, distributive laws govern how operations apply to individual elements.
- The teacher explained that distributive adjectives modify nouns in a way that applies to each member separately.