Etymologically
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correspondent

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 16:21. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˌkɒɹ.ɪˈspɒn.dənt/ (UK); /ˌkɔɹ.ɪˈspɑn.dənt/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French correspondant or directly Medieval Latin correspondēns, the present participle of correspondeō (“to correspond, harmonize”),[2][3][4] from com- (“together”) and respondeō (“to answer”) (see respond).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adjective, answering to or agreeing with something: the early 15th century in Etymonline, 1432–50 in the OED,[2][5] a sense since taken over by corresponding.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The noun, one who communicates by letter, is from the 1620s (about 1630 in Merriam-Webster).[2][3] The newspaper sense, one who sends regular reports from a distant place, is from 1711.[2] A firm with regular business dealings with another at a distance is a later commercial use.[6][7]

Timeline

  • 1432–50 – agreeing, matching (adjective).[5]
  • 1620s – a letter writer.[2]
  • 1711 – a newspaper correspondent.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person employed by a newspaper or broadcaster to report from abroad or on a special subject.
  2. A person who writes letters to another.
  3. A person or firm with regular business dealings with another, especially at a distance.

Adjective

  1. (archaic) Corresponding.

Word family

  • correspondently
  • noncorrespondent
  • foreign correspondent
  • war correspondent

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins