correspondence

noun

cor·​re·​spon·​dence ˌkȯr-ə-ˈspän-dən(t)s 

ˌkär-

1

a

: communication by letters or email

also : the letters or emails exchanged

I have a pile of correspondence on my desk.

b

: the news, information, or opinion contributed by a correspondent to a newspaper or periodical

2

a

: the agreement of things with one another

the correspondence between spelling and pronunciation

b

: a particular similarity

c

: a relation between sets in which each member of one set is associated with one or more members of the other compare function sense 5a

Synonyms

• similarity
• resemblance

Examples of correspondence in a Sentence

They communicated by telephone and correspondence.

E-mail correspondence has become extremely important for modern businesses.

The two men began a correspondence that would continue throughout their lives.

A book of the author's personal correspondence was published early last year.

A formal tone is always used in business correspondence.

Note the correspondence of each number to a location on the map.

Sometimes there is little correspondence between the way a word is spelled and the way it is pronounced in English.

Sometimes there are few correspondences between spelling and pronunciation.

Recent Examples on the Web

There’s the 1970 AFC Pro Bowl helmet of cornerback Jim Marsalis; notes describing the terms of the NFL-AFL merger; and correspondence with toy company Wham-O — creators of the Super Ball — as Hunt looked to find a suitable name for pro football’s newest championship game. —Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 24 Oct. 2025

Within days of contacting the account, Earl – whose correspondence revealed sympathy for Russia’s war – had been given his first target for an arson attack, the warehouse owned by a Ukrainian man. —Christian Edwards, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025

The narrator has a post-breakup correspondence with Xavier and exchanges emails with her former high-school English teacher, Terence Stone, who has recently reached out to compliment her writing. —Rhian Sasseen, The Atlantic, 22 Oct. 2025

New correspondence between the space agency, Congress and the Smithsonian shows both the progress and struggles of those efforts taking place behind the scenes. —Josh Dinner, Space.com, 22 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

see correspond

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2a

Phrases Containing correspondence

• correspondence course
• correspondence school

Kids Definition

correspondence

noun

cor·​re·​spon·​dence ˌkȯr-ə-ˈspän-dən(t)s 

1

a

: agreement between certain things

b

: a point of similarity

c

: a relation between sets in which each member of one set is matched to one or more members of the other set

2

a

: communication by letters

b

: the letters exchanged