Correspond

How to spell correspond

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce correspond

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does correspond mean?

1. verbTo match, agree with, or be equivalent to something else.
2. verbTo communicate by exchanging letters or messages.

Correspond in a sentence

• The figures in the report do not correspond to the bank statement.

• The two scientists continued to correspond for decades by post.

• These job titles roughly correspond to grades in our pay structure.

• She would correspond regularly with clients about their accounts.

Where does correspond come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Medieval Latin correspondere, formed from the prefix com- 'together' and respondere 'to answer back'. That respondere was itself built from re- 'back' and spondere, which literally meant 'to pledge' or 'to promise solemnly', the same root that gives us 'sponsor' and 'spouse'. The Latin idea was of two things pledging or answering to each other, so the early sense was 'to be in agreement or harmony'. English borrowed it in the late 1400s, partly through French correspondre, first in the sense of things matching or agreeing. The meaning 'to exchange letters' developed a little later, from the idea of two writers answering one another back and forth. The doubled r at the start, mirroring the com- plus re- joint, is the spelling trap, since the second syllable sounds like a weak schwa rather than a clear vowel.

How the word is built

• cor- (together, from com-)
• re- (back)
• spond (from Latin spondere: to pledge or promise) = literally 'to pledge together in reply'