Etymograph

English

correspond

Correspond comes from Middle French correspondre ‘to correspond’, from Latin respondeo ‘to match, to answer to’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *spend- ‘to libate’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spend-1‘to libate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spondéyeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*spondejō1reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*spondeō1‘to promise, pledge’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspondeō1‘promise’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErespondeo2‘to match, to answer to’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600correspondre2‘to correspond’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1751correspond2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin respondeo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English correspond
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1751, Tobias Smollett: “He pleaded guilty to the charge, so far as…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spend-Wiktionary, Latin respondeo‘to libate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*spondéyetiWiktionary, Latin respondeoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*spondejōWiktionary, Latin respondeoreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*spondeōWiktionary, Latin respondeo‘to promise, pledge’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEspondeōWiktionary, Latin respondeo‘promise’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErespondeoWiktionary, English correspond‘to match, to answer to’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600correspondreWiktionary, English correspond‘to correspond’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1751correspondWiktionary, English correspond. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1751, Tobias Smollett: “He pleaded guilty to the charge, so far as…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *spend- ‘to libate’

11 more

through Latin spondeō ‘promise’

spouse, sponsor, 9 more

through Latin respondeo ‘to match, to answer to’

response, responsible, 4 more

Today it means

verb To be equivalent or similar in character, quantity, quality, origin, structure, function etc.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “correspond”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin respondeo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *spend- / correspond

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