What does corespondent mean?
A corespondent is a person formally named alongside another party in legal proceedings, most familiarly as the third individual cited in a divorce petition where adultery is alleged. In such cases, the petitioner names the spouse as respondent and the alleged lover as corespondent, making the word a fixture of matrimonial law and, historically, of sensational courtroom reporting. Beyond divorce, the term can denote anyone jointly charged or joined with another in the same case, though this broader sense is rarer. The word carries an inherently accusatory connotation, since being named a corespondent publicly links one to wrongdoing. Its spelling is famously confusable: with two r's it becomes 'correspondent', an entirely unrelated word meaning a letter-writer or journalist. Formal in register and largely confined to legal contexts, corespondent remains useful precisely because no ordinary synonym captures its specific procedural role.
nounA person named in a divorce petition as the alleged partner in adultery with the respondent's spouse. In broader legal use, a party jointly charged or joined with another in the same proceeding.
- The third party cited in divorce proceedings for adultery with the respondent's spouse.
- A party jointly charged or named alongside another in a legal action.
"She named her husband's colleague as the co-respondent in the divorce proceedings."
"The petitioner named her husband's business partner as co-respondent in the adultery claim."
"Both men appeared before the court as corespondents in the fraud case."
Pluralizes normally; multiple parties may be named in a single proceeding.
"The petition listed three corespondents."
One missing letter separates a war reporter from a divorce scandal: 'correspondent' files dispatches, but 'corespondent' gets named in the petition.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of corespondent
Corespondent derives from the prefix 'co-' (meaning 'together, jointly') combined with 'respondent', itself from Latin 'respondere', 'to answer'. It entered English through the same Latin root that gives us respond, response, and correspondent. The word arose in English legal language, gaining particular prominence in 19th-century divorce proceedings under legislation that required adulterous third parties to be named.
How corespondent is actually used
Chiefly formal and legal in register. The hyphenated spelling 'co-respondent' was traditionally preferred in British legal usage to avoid confusion with 'correspondent', and both spellings remain in circulation; the unhyphenated form dominates in American usage.
Easily confused with corespondent
A correspondent is someone who communicates by letters or reports news for a media outlet, while a corespondent (note the single 'r' at the start) is a party named in legal proceedings, especially an alleged adulterer in a divorce case.