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

BBC national political correspondent Joe Pike has written a piece about the parliamentary inquiry at Met Police investigation.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

Special correspondent Mogollón reported from La Guaira and staff writer McDonnell from Mexico City.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Guest: Julie Rovner, chief Washington correspondent, host of the KFF Health News weekly health policy news podcast, “What the Health?”

From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2026

Earlier in the day, an AFP correspondent saw dozens of trucks loaded with furniture and other belongings waiting to set off from near the city of Hasakeh, with men, women and children eager to depart.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

“It looked,” wrote Thoroughbred Record correspondent Barry Whitehead, “like the Oklahoma landrush.”

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Tanya Simon, the executive producer who oversaw the program’s recent success, was removed alongside correspondents Alfonsi and Vega, as well as senior editors and producers.

From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026

Our reporters and correspondents have explained below where some of Africa's key footballing nations stand.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

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

Tasnim reported that one of its correspondents had reported that locations around the island "were struck by projectiles from the American enemy".

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

Instead, correspondents filed their reports by voice or fax via satellite phone, and those reports were typed into computers for dissemination on the Web by editors in New York, Boston, and Seattle.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

Related Words

• contributor
• journalist
• reporter
• writer