correspondent
Americannoun
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a person who communicates by letters.
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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.
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a person who contributes a letter or letters to a newspaper, magazine, etc.
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a person or firm that has regular business relations with another, especially at a distance.
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a thing that corresponds to something else.
adjective
noun
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a person who communicates by letter or by letters
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a person employed by a newspaper, etc, to report on a special subject or to send reports from a foreign country
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a person or firm that has regular business relations with another, esp one in a different part of the country or abroad
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something that corresponds to another
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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."
Vocabulary lists containing correspondent
I Am Malala
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myPerspectives 9.1
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Journalism
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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.
WSJ China is a weekly newsletter with exclusive insights on the contest between the U.S. and China, brought to you by WSJ Chief China Correspondent Lingling Wei, with help from Chuqin Jiang.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026
WSJ China is a weekly newsletter with exclusive insights on the contest between the U.S. and China, brought to you by WSJ Chief China Correspondent Lingling Wei, with help from Zhao Yueling.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026
For some of us, Dry January has just come to an end, writes Business Correspondent David Henderson.
From BBC • Feb. 3, 2026
Correspondent Bill Whitaker asked Harris about the Biden administration’s rocky relations with Israel’s prime minister.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 4, 2025
In the event of another war, the communications of Our Special Correspondent might fall naturally into the form of an Epic, shaped and determined by the course of circumstances.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 62, Jan 13, 1872 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
