Explain what is meant by the term 'distributed monolith' in the context of software system architecture.

The term "distributed monolith" describes an architecture where an application is divided into several services or components that are physically distributed but are closely linked and highly dependent on each other in terms of logic and functionality. Unlike microservices, where services are autonomous and independent, in a distributed monolith, changes in one service often require changes in others, and interaction between them can be complex and synchronous.

This leads to problems with scaling, deployment, and maintenance, as the system retains the drawbacks of a monolith despite component distribution. A distributed monolith often arises when attempting to split a monolithic application into parts without full decomposition and clear responsibility boundaries between services.