Etymologically
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correspond

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˌkɒɹɪˈspɒnd/, /ˌkɒɹəˈspɒnd/[1]
  • US: /ˌkoɹəˈspɑnd/[1]

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

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