Correspondence

How to spell correspondence

14 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce correspondence

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does correspondence mean?

1. nounLetters, emails or other written messages exchanged between people.
2. nounA close similarity, agreement or connection between two things.

Correspondence in a sentence

• The lawyer kept every piece of correspondence relating to the case.

• The auditor checked the correspondence between the invoices and the bank records.

• All correspondence with the tax office should be retained for six years.

• There is a clear correspondence between rising temperatures and energy use.

Where does correspondence come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb respondere, meaning 'to answer' or 'to reply', built from re- ('back') and spondere ('to pledge or promise'); literally it carried the sense of pledging something in return. Medieval Latin then formed correspondentia by adding the prefix com- ('together', here softened to cor- before an r), giving the idea of two parties answering one another in agreement. The term passed into English through Old French correspondance in the late 1300s and 1400s, at first describing harmony or mutual fit between things. The familiar meaning of letters exchanged between people grew later, since writing back and forth is exactly two parties answering each other. The same spondere root surfaces in 'respond', 'sponsor' and 'spouse', and the doubled r plus the unstressed -ence ending (not -ance) are the two spelling traps that most often catch fluent adults.

How the word is built

• cor- (together, variant of com-)
• respond (from Latin respondere: to answer)
• -ence (noun suffix)