correspondence

UK: /ˌkɒrɪˈspɒndəns/

US: /ˌkɔrəˈspɑndəns, ˌkɑr-/

US: (kôr′ə spon′dəns, kor′-)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

cor•re•spond•ence /ˌkɔrəˈspɑndəns, ˌkɑr-/   n. 

1. communication by exchange of letters:
   [uncountable] Our parents cut off all correspondence between us.
2. a letter or letters that pass between correspondents:
   [countable] I have here a correspondence between you and the defendant.
   [uncountable] She kept all the correspondence between her and her lawyers in a safe-deposit box.
3. agreement;
   similarity;
   conformity:
   [countable] There is a one-to-one correspondence between each sound and each written letter in Finnish, but not in Swedish.
   [uncountable] There is some correspondence between the sound of a word and its meaning, or else we couldn't communicate.

See -spond-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

cor•re•spond•ence  (kôr′ə spon′dəns, kor′-), n. 

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, correspondency. an instance of corresponding.
4. similarity or analogy.
5. agreement;
   conformity.
6. news, commentary, letters, etc., received from a newspaper or magazine correspondent.
7. Mathematics function (def. 4a).

• Medieval Latin corrēspondentia. See correspondent, -ence
• Middle French)
• late Middle English (1375–1425

Synonyms

• 5. accord, concord, consonance.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

correspondence / ˌkɒrɪˈspɒndəns/ noun

1. the act or condition of agreeing or corresponding
2. similarity or analogy
3. agreement or conformity
4. communication by the exchange of letters
5. the letters so exchanged

Also (archaic): correspondency