correspondence

American  

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

noun

• correspondences
  plural

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

Derived Forms

• noncorrespondence
  noun
• precorrespondence
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• correspondences
  plural

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

See Examples For:

correspondence correspondences

Jeff emailed and another sweatshirt was sent, but the correspondence between him and the band's singer, Michael Hett, continued - and it was he who suggested the couple should visit.

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

I recall correspondence I had with Virginia Chan, founder of Hong Kong’s “Humid with a Chance of Fishballs” food tours.

From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026

The biography synthesizes an impressive collection of sources, including personal correspondence, photographs, portraits and the incidental writings of figures such as Franz Liszt and Victor Hugo.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Keep your correspondence about the job, and you can help each other be as productive as possible.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026

That first surprising phone call led to a regular correspondence.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Septimus Piesse, a 19th-century chemist, translated sounds into smells, proclaiming an “octave of odors,” the authors explain, “with correspondences between notes and scents providing the basis for harmonious olfactory combinations.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

The agency declined to share correspondences between staffers due to the continuing investigation, the report said.

From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026

“These cross modal correspondences are shared across people. Is it across everybody? Is it universal? Sometimes, perhaps yes,” Spence said.

From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2025

Since then, the tribe has reached out “via email correspondences to the city, to the various departments, the planning commission, and the city council for that matter,” said Jaime.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2024

That Babylonian astronomy was not the only eastern influence on Anaximander is suggested by correspondences between his model and certain elements of native Persian religion, such as those preserved in Zoroastrianism.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro

Related Words

• writing