Etymograph

English

distribute

Distribute comes from Latin distributus ‘divided, distributed’, from tribuō ‘to give, impart’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *triðus ‘trinity, tripartite entity’.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*triðus‘trinity, tripartite entity’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtribus‘one of the three original tribes of Rome: Ramnes, Tities, Luceres’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtribuōas tribuere‘to give, impart’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdistribuere‘to divide, distribute’next step skipped: Latin distribuō
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdistributus‘divided, distributed’past participle of distribuere
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1826distribute

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*triðus‘trinity, tripartite entity’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtribus‘one of the three original tribes of Rome: Ramnes, Tities, Luceres’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtribuōas tribuere‘to give, impart’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdistribuere‘to divide, distribute’next step skipped: Latin distribuō
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdistributus‘divided, distributed’past participle of distribuere
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1826distribute

Earliest quotation: 1826, Richard Whately: “A term is said to be distributed when it…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- ‘to be, become, grow, appear’

be, been, power, possible, present, future, physical, build, improve, presence, essential, bond, bound, absence, bush, physician, entity, booth, approve, probability, absent, favorable, fiat, favourable, bouquet, bun, imp, bower, rebuke, impossibility, impotent, aren, beamer, bosque, phylogeny, physic, phylum, approbation, boor, busk, 81 more

through Latin tribus ‘one of the three original tribes of Rome:…’

tribe, tribal, tribunal, tribune, 5 more

through Latin tribuō ‘to give, impart’

contribution, contribute, contributor, retribution, attribution, 1 more

Today it means

verb To divide into portions and dispense.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *triðus / distribute

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