Definition: distributed processing

The first term used to describe the distribution of multiple computers throughout an organization in contrast to a centralized system. The distributed processing and "distributed computing" terms were coined in the 1970s when minicomputers in different departments replaced terminals connected to a central mainframe, and each minicomputer performed similar work on different data.

In this context, distributed processing is technically "decentralized processing" because each department does its own work. In practice, the terms distributed processing and decentralized processing are used synonymously. See client/server and decentralized processing.

Blockchains (Distributed and Decentralized)
Today, the term also refers to the distributed ledger architecture of blockchain-based cryptocurrencies. Although blockchain processing is distributed among many nodes that do the same work on the same or nearly the same data, they ushered in the world of "decentralized" finance (DeFi) to contrast blockchains with "centralized" bank and government institutions. Thus, one might say that blockchains are the "distributed" architecture used in the "decentralized" finance industry. To be completely accurate, blockchains use blockchain architecture because blockchain architecture is unique. See blockchain.

Less or More Fault Tolerant

Technically, a distributed processing network is more interconnected than a decentralized processing network and thus resilient to single-node failure.