correspondent

American  

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

noun

correspondents plural

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

Derived Forms

• noncorrespondent
  adjective
• precorrespondent
  adjective
• correspondently
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• correspondents
  plural

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

See Examples For:

correspondent correspondents

Times staff writer Linthicum reported from Mexico City and special correspondent López from Jacksonville, Fla.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

Before joining the Times, she was a contributing writer to Time magazine and a correspondent for the Economist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026

There were multiple operations targeting him between 2006 and 2014, when he was a BBC correspondent covering policing and security issues.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

Moments later, on-air correspondent Aishah Hasnie echoed the same caution.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

Arthur Chambers made arrangements with Nelson Obada to act as a special correspondent for his newspaper and to send reports to San Piedro.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

She has overseen a series of controversial moves, including shaking up the evening news and sacking several “60 Minutes” correspondents.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

BBC correspondents in Europe, Russia, Ukraine and Asia reflect on what world leaders make of a Burnham premiership.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

Residents in Liulan were also seen cleaning up their devastated homes, with some of them using excavators to scoop up their damaged household items, AFP correspondents saw.

From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026

Prompting the Pelley fit was the firing of two relatively junior correspondents, plus three executives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026

“Foreign correspondents and intelligence agents are probably prowling around near the Kremlin. It doesn’t pay to show that we’re nervous. Let them think we’re peacefully asleep in our beds.”

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Related Words

• contributor
• journalist
• reporter
• writer