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

They shared an unexplained inside joke, referring multiple times in their correspondence to the “tiger.”

From Salon • May 19, 2026

To be considered for publication, correspondence must bear the writer’s name, address, and phone number.

From Barron's • May 8, 2026

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

Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office after correspondence in the Epstein files suggested he may have passed on sensitive trade information.

From BBC • May 4, 2026

In a separate correspondence about the same time with John Taylor, another prominent Virginia planter and political thinker who had also questioned Adams’s views on aristocracy, Adams called attention to the irony of the situation.

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

Related Words

• writing