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.

---

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

---

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

What we have instead was described in one of the most famous lines in 250 years of American diplomatic correspondence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

A Pentagon spokesperson declined to answer questions from ProPublica, noting: “As with all congressional correspondence, the Department will respond directly to the authors.”

From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026

You must be able to read and respond to work-related correspondence in a timely fashion, which means you need access to your phone, laptop and a wifi signal or hotspot.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026

Details of the letter and other correspondence were described to The Times by two district sources who reviewed the document.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2026

The correspondence between Maggie Fox and Robert Kane resulted in a standoff.

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Behind the debate over whether Casey Wasserman should resign as the 2028 Olympics chief over 20-year-old correspondences unearthed in the Epstein files is a fraught question that has long haunted the L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 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

In her paper, Dr Hale chronicles terse correspondences between the museum's art director, Professor John Coolidge, and Ramsey once concerns had been raised by the duchess.

From BBC ● Mar. 18, 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