correspond

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin correspondeō (“to correspond, harmonize, reciprocate”),^[2][3][4][5] partly borrowed from Middle French correspondre (“to be in harmony, agree”), recorded in French from the 14th century.^[3][4][6][7] The Latin verb is formed from com- (“together, with each other”), in its form cor-, and respondeō (“to answer”), the source of respond.^[2][3][8][9] The OED notes that the word was formed to express a mutual answering of things to each other, and that before it reached English it could already describe one side of such a relation only.^[2] Etymonline likewise says that in Medieval Latin it was first used of two things acting on each other, and later of one thing.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To agree with, suit, be in harmony with: 1529, in a letter of King Henry VIII.^[2][5][4] The Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English date the verb to late Middle English.^[6][10]

Semantic evolution

From agreement the verb moved to likeness: "to be similar or analogous to" is recorded from 1645,^[2][3] and "to agree in position or amount" from 1694.^[2] A sense "to hold communication with", often of secret dealings, appears about 1600,^[3][2] and narrowed by 1650 to communicating by exchange of letters, a sense shared by correspondence and correspondent;^[2][4][11] Barnhart dates the letter-writing sense to 1645.^[4] The OED observes that this sense keeps the mutual idea of the Latin.^[2] Further uses of commercial dealings (1682) and, once in 1756, of sexual relations have died out.^[2][3] Johnson (1755) gave two senses, to suit or fit and to keep up an exchange of letters.^[12] Weekley notes that the journalistic sense of correspondent grew up with periodical literature from about 1700.^[13] In Norfolk dialect correspond could mean to be suitable or becoming.^[14]

Timeline

• 1529 – to agree with, suit, be in harmony with.^[2][5]
• 1545 – transitive, to answer to or suit (obsolete by 1675).^[2]
• c. 1600 – to hold communication with.^[3][2]
• 1645 – to be similar or analogous to; to communicate by letters (Barnhart).^[2][3][4]
• 1650 – to communicate by an exchange of letters (OED).^[2]
• 1694 – to agree in position or amount.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To be in agreement or harmony; to match or be consistent: His account of the evening does not correspond with hers.^[15][5][2]
2. To be similar or analogous in character or function; to be equivalent: The wings of a bat correspond to the arms of a person.^[15][5][2]
3. To agree in position or amount: Each number corresponds to a seat in the hall.^[2][5]
4. To communicate by letters; to exchange letters: The two scientists corresponded for twenty years.^{[15][5][2][12]}

Word family

• correspondingly
• correspondent
• correspondence

Related words

• respond
• response
• sponsor
• spouse

Usage notes

Dictionary.com distinguishes it from agree and accord: correspond suggests a clear similarity without agreement in every detail, agree that there is no essential difference, and accord an exact agreement.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
13. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
15. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
16. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House