These two nouns describe people, with two very different meanings. The one with two “r”s, correspondent, is a very common word, while corespondent, with one “r,” is not as common, and you may see it as a miss-spelling of correspondent.
Correspondent has two meanings:
(1) A person who is communicating with someone else through letters, emails, notes, or other written messages (writing essays or blog posts does not make you a correspondent):
Although Emily Dickinson rarely left her home, she enjoyed exchanging letters with many correspondents.
(2) A person who writes news reports, or gives broadcast reports, from the location where the news is happening.
News broadcasters usually turn to corespondents to provide news about events in foreign countries, or on special subjects.
A corespondent, in contrast, is literally a co-respondent—a person who responds together with another person. The word is used mainly in legal matters, although one can use it for other purposes:
The lawsuit was delayed because one of the corespondents to the subpoena was not available.
Parents may fill out this survey as corespondents, if they share parenting duties.
The easiest way to remember the difference between these two verbs is to remember that a co-respondent responds together with (co-) someone else, while correspondent with two “r”s has the more complex meanings described above.
More Examples of How to Use "Corespondent" in a Sentence
- The corespondents each filed a divorce petition after 10 years of marriage.
- Greg, the first-called corespondent, was present at the deposition, but he refused to answer any of the lawyers' questions.
- The attorney representing the corespondent made sure that his client testified truthfully.
- Mark and Lisa, the corespondents in the case, both agreed to the terms of the settlement, after they realized that they didn't stand a chance at trial.
- The corespondents in the case were Mark's wife, his mistress, and his best friend.
More Examples of How to Use "Correspondent" in a Sentence
- The United Nations has appointed an ambassador from New Zealand to serve as a correspondent to the country's Parliament.
- All correspondence goes through my secretary in the office, except for my personal letters.
- Jacky is a correspondent for a major news network.
- We'll need two more correspondents to ensure we'll have sufficient coverage of the event.
- Monique, who is an intrepid correspondent, is reporting live from the battlefield.