archive

1 of 2

noun

ar·​chive ˈär-ˌkīv 

1

: a place in which public records or historical materials (such as documents) are preserved

an archive of historical manuscripts

a film archive

also : the material preserved

—often used in plural

reading through the archives

2

: a repository or collection especially of information

archive

2 of 2

verb

archived; archiving

transitive verb

: to file or collect in or as if in an archive

archive documents

archived tissue samples

Synonyms

Noun

• library

Examples of archive in a Sentence

Verb

The organization was devoted to cataloging and archiving printed materials on the labor movement.

She archived her e-mail messages in a folder on her hard drive.

a collection of archived articles

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Like teens on Depop, Eminem is combing through his Y2K archives for a new look. —August Brown, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2024

Inside the vaults While few people know the full extent of the Nike archives, fashion and beauty outlet Coveteur received a sneak peek in 2018. —Carolyn Barber, Fortune, 31 May 2024

Verb

The print publication is a tangible, permanent record that is archived by publications and libraries, containing the records of an entire community. —Rebecca Snyder, Baltimore Sun, 22 Apr. 2024

Indeed, Varda was rarely without a Mini-DV camera since 1999, leaving a wealth of memory cards and materials that the directors’ children Rosalie Varda and Mathieu Demy have indexed and archived with the technical participation and support of l’INA – the French national audiovisual archive. —Ben Croll, Variety, 17 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

French & Latin; French, from Latin archivum, from Greek archeion government house (in plural, official documents), from archē rule, government — more at arch-

First Known Use

Noun

1603, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1831, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

archive

1 of 2 noun

ar·​chive ˈär-ˌkīv 

1

: a place in which public records or historical documents are preserved

also : the material preserved

—usually used in plural

2

: a collection of information

archive

2 of 2 verb

archived; archiving

: to file or collect in or as if in an archive

was archiving documents