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

I realized that replying to complicated requests or problems in anger or haste was never smart, so I kept his rule to slow my response time down eight hours for future correspondence.

From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026

That extends well beyond the information available to patients through the NHS app and may include safeguarding concerns, risk assessments, correspondence between healthcare professionals and detailed consultation notes.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

FBI agents had collected voluminous corporate records and email correspondence between Navatek and Collins’ inner circle.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

Other highlights include the manual typewriter she used to write her correspondence and autobiography, jewellery, and classical guitars.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

Warren concluded with a scathing diagnosis of the Adams correspondence with her as a scattered series of verbal impulses and “the most captious, malignant, irrelevant compositions that have ever been seen.”

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis

Etta provided email correspondences to the outlet and said the “Morbius” actor encouraged her to stay in contact via text after the invite.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

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

From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026

In another, he included what he described as Kennedy’s explicit correspondences with Nuzzi, and said Nuzzi acted as a political operative for the then-candidate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025

To learn more about the state’s correspondences with the CDC, KFF Health News filed a public records request to the Texas health department.

From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2025

I set my cigar box full of Jemma’s old correspondences on the bench beside me, and I opened a few newspapers scavenged from the depot.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

Related Words

• writing