correspondent

American  

[kawr-uh-spon-duhnt, kor-] / ˌkɔr əˈspɒn dənt, ˌkɒr- /

noun

1. a person who communicates by letters.

2. a person employed by a news agency, periodical, television network, etc., to gather, report, or contribute news, articles, and the like regularly from a distant place.

3. a person who contributes a letter or letters to a newspaper, magazine, etc.

4. a person or firm that has regular business relations with another, especially at a distance.

5. a thing that corresponds to something else.

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adjective

1. consistent, similar, or analogous; corresponding.

correspondent British  

/ ˌkɒrɪˈspɒndənt /

noun

1. a person who communicates by letter or by letters

2. a person employed by a newspaper, etc, to report on a special subject or to send reports from a foreign country

3. a person or firm that has regular business relations with another, esp one in a different part of the country or abroad

4. something that corresponds to another

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adjective

1. similar or analogous

Other Word Forms

• correspondently
  adverb
• noncorrespondent
  adjective
• precorrespondent
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of correspondent

1375–1425; late Middle English < Medieval Latin corrēspondent- (stem of corrēspondēns ), present participle of corrēspondēre to correspond; see -ent

Explanation

A correspondent is a reporter who writes or records stories on one topic or from one region. If you're hired as a radio station's financial correspondent, you'll need to do a lot of research on the economy. A journalist might work as a TV station's Middle East correspondent or a newspaper's education correspondent. You can also call yourself a correspondent if you're a regular letter or email writer, corresponding, or communicating, with someone. As an adjective, though, correspondent means "matching or agreeing." The word is rooted in the Medieval Latin correspondere, "to answer together."

Example Sentences

Longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent Anderson Cooper said in February that he planned to exit after the current season, which wrapped earlier this month.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026

BBC Turkish correspondent Ayşe Sayin said the ruling came as a shock at CHP headquarters, with some members moved to tears.

From BBC • May 22, 2026

Your correspondent very nearly fell for a bank scam over the phone several years ago.

From MarketWatch • May 22, 2026

The first of hundreds of Gaza flotilla activists began arriving at Istanbul airport Thursday after being arrested then deported from Israel, an AFP correspondent said.

From Barron's • May 21, 2026

He told me that the man was a special correspondent for a Paris paper.

From "The Stranger" by Albert Camus

Related Words

• contributor
• journalist
• reporter
• writer