A distribution of measurements or observations is the frequency of these measurements shown as a function of one or more variables, usually in the form of a histogram. Experimental distributions can thus be compared to theoretical probability density functions.
The term distribution function is short for cumulative distribution function and describes the integral of the probability density function: a random variable X has the (cumulative) distribution function F(x), if the probability for an experiment to yield an X < x is
For several random variables the joint distribution function is