correspondence

American  

[kawr-uh-spon-duhns, kor-] / ˌkɔr əˈspɒn dəns, ˌkɒr- /

noun

1. communication by exchange of letters.

2. a letter or letters that pass between correspondents.

   It will take me all day to answer this business correspondence.

3. Also an instance of corresponding.

4. similarity or analogy.

5. agreement; conformity.

   Synonyms:

   consonance, concord, accord

6. news, commentary, letters, etc., received from a newspaper or magazine correspondent.

7. Mathematics. function.

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correspondence British  

/ ˌkɒrɪˈspɒndəns /

noun

1. the act or condition of agreeing or corresponding

2. similarity or analogy

3. agreement or conformity

4. 1. communication by the exchange of letters

   2. the letters so exchanged

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Other Word Forms

• noncorrespondence
  noun
• precorrespondence
  noun

Etymology

Origin of correspondence

1375–1425; late Middle English (< Middle French ) < Medieval Latin corrēspondentia. See correspondent, -ence

Explanation

Correspondence is a body of letters or communications. If you've ever had a pen pal or an email buddy, you’ve written plenty of correspondence. Besides referring to that stack of love letters you've bound up with ribbon, correspondence has a couple of other meanings, too. When you and your friend hold similar opinions about a particular subject, your thoughts are in correspondence, or "agreement." In mathematics, symmetrical objects are in correspondence — that is, they mirror each other exactly.

Example Sentences

These texts include correspondence between a local leader and an Assyrian king from around 1800 BC, along with administrative records.

From Science Daily • May 5, 2026

The National Trust for Historic Preservation responded, saying that the correspondence dinner incident doesn’t change their position, that the president must get congressional approval for his ballroom project.

From Salon • May 1, 2026

Cases are decided based on written evidence alone, with no prosecutor present to see the mitigation and other correspondence sent in by the defendant.

From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026

The White House didn’t say whether it had received the correspondence.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

“I move my office every few years, I hire a new staff. I keep up with projects through correspondence, it is not a difficult thing to manage considering what I receive in return.”

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Related Words

• writing