Addressee

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The party intended to receive a communication or message is referred to as the designated recipient in correspondence
2. The individual intended to receive a spoken or written communication is known as the recipient of that message or document
3. The person who is meant to receive a letter, email, or other form of communication

Etymology: The word "addressee" is a plain formation: the noun "address" with the suffix "-ee," which marks the person who is the object of an action. An addressee is the one who is addressed, the person a letter or message is directed to. The suffix came into English from French, where "-é" and later "-ee" formed nouns for the recipient of an action, as in "employee" or "payee." The base word, "address," traces back through Middle English "adressen" and Old French "adrecier," meaning to make straight or direct. That French verb was built on Vulgar Latin "dīrēctiāre," from Latin "dīrēctus," the past participle of "dīrigere," "to direct," which combined "dis-," apart, with "regere," "to rule or guide." So the idea at the root is of guiding something in a straight line, which is the sense behind sending a message to a particular destination.

Synonyms: recipient, receiver, listener