correspond
Americanverb (used without object)
-
corresponds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
corresponded,
past participle, past
-
corresponding
present participle
-
to be in agreement or conformity (often followed by with or to).
His actions do not correspond with his words.
-
to be similar or analogous; be equivalent in function, position, amount, etc. (usually followed by to).
The U.S. Congress corresponds to the British Parliament.
-
to communicate by exchange of letters.
verb
-
to conform, be in agreement, or be consistent or compatible (with); tally (with)
-
(usually foll by to) to be similar or analogous in character or function
-
(usually foll by with) to communicate by letter
Synonym Usage
Correspond, agree, accord imply comparing persons or things and finding that they harmonize. Correspond suggests having an obvious similarity, though not agreeing in every detail: Part of this report corresponds with the facts. Agree implies having or arriving at a condition in which no essential difference of opinion or detail is evident: All the reports agree. Accord emphasizes agreeing exactly, both in fact and in point of view: This report accords with the other.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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correspondsimple
-
correspondssimple
-
have correspondedperfect
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has correspondedperfect
-
am correspondingprogressive
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are correspondingprogressive
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is correspondingprogressive
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have been correspondingperfect progressive
-
has been correspondingperfect progressive
Past
-
correspondedsimple
-
had correspondedperfect
-
was correspondingprogressive
-
were correspondingprogressive
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had been correspondingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of correspond
First recorded in 1520–30; from Middle French, from Medieval Latin corrēspondēre; equivalent to cor- + respond
Explanation
When two things correspond, they match up or are equivalent to one another. You might come up with a code in which numbers correspond to letters of the alphabet. Correspond can also mean to send messages back and forth. You can use your code to correspond with your pen pal. The word correspond can mean "communicating back and forth," like using email to correspond with a far-away cousin. It can also mean "be alike," as in having friends whose interests and personalities correspond to your own. Finally, it can be "be equal to," as in getting a score on a standardized test that corresponds with those of students taking the same subjects as you but who live in other states or countries.
Vocabulary lists containing correspond
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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ACT Vocabulary List
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"Nature" by Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He also apologized for befriending Oxford, and he signed off with a request to correspond and perhaps visit someday.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
What’s more, the value added by his investment may not exactly correspond to the amount he spends on it.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
“I remember we would correspond over Twitter DMs, and she just seemed very excited to be helpful in any way,” Matthews said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
The court adjourned until August 27 to check whether the tests "correspond to Diego Armando Maradona or someone else," presiding judge Alberto Gaig said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
These five parts roughly correspond to the sequence in which you might imagine putting a speech—or, more broadly, any persuasive appeal—together.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
“Relative to the sample mean of $17.5 million, this corresponds to an incremental increase of approximately $83 million to $104 million in funds raised.”
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
Their size corresponds to small arrowheads, which are directly comparable to those produced by Homo sapiens during an incursion into Neanderthal territory in the Rhône Valley, 25,000 years later.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 6, 2026
“Institutions run by the Catholic Church now threaten to place an undue burden on parents that would effectively deny them the fundamental right to choose a school that corresponds to their own convictions,” he added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
Average worldwide sea temperatures tend to reach their yearly peak in March or April, which corresponds to the end of summer in the southern hemisphere - and not in August.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
A single story corresponds with each author’s name.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
I corresponded with con artists and attended a strange “medical” appointment that promised me invisible surgery and extraterrestrial matchmaking.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
Since then, I’ve corresponded with Nimblewill Nomad, the record holder and caretaker of a hostel at Flagg Mountain, the start of the Pinhoti Trail in Alabama.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
They have corresponded with previous market tops in 2000, 2007 and 2021, according to Leuthold.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
During several stretches since the pandemic, however, deep drops in sentiment haven’t corresponded with any real belt-tightening by shoppers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
I had corresponded with Papi for the first few weeks after our arrival in Brooklyn.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
But it needs to check each claim, verify millions of entries, and match them with corresponding data from the U.S. government.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
"Our results show that proteins can have important biological functions that are completely independent of their enzymatic activity," says corresponding author Stefan Kubicek, Principal Investigator at CeMM.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026
"Wider data suggests there has been a corresponding fall in need for food banks, not just use, external".
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Don’t read too much into the Dodgers’ corresponding move for Ohtani on Wednesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
Wallace’s discovery initially seemed to confirm the three-migrations model: the haplogroups were seen as the legacy of separate waves of migration, with the most common haplogroup corresponding to the Clovis culture.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
