corresponding

Pluralcorrespondings

1. 1
   adjective

   Having a similar relationship or position to something else; matching or equivalent in some respect.

   For every entry in the left column there is a corresponding figure on the right.

   A rise in temperature produced a corresponding increase in pressure inside the tank.

   Similarmatching, equivalent, comparable, analogous, proportional

   Note

   Mostly found before a noun, where it points to the counterpart of something already mentioned: a corresponding figure, a corresponding rise. Sports reporting has a fixed use for the equivalent match in another round. Jeremy Wilson, writing in 2011, recalls a hat-trick "in last month's corresponding fixture in Iceland." The word carries the comparison by itself, so the thing being matched is often left for the reader to supply from context.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of correspond.

   The two ambassadors spent years corresponding about the terms of the treaty.

   Corresponding with scientists abroad kept her up to date on new research.

   Note

   An -ing form doing two jobs: a verb in progressive tenses (they were corresponding for years) and a noun in gerund use (corresponding by letter takes patience). Since correspond is intransitive, it takes no direct object; a preposition carries the link instead. The same spelling serves as the adjective of matching, which sits before a noun: a corresponding increase. An obsolete sense of the verb meant to have sex with, worth remembering in older texts.

3. 3
   noun

   The situation in which two or more things agree with, match, or fit one another.

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