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 of archive

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

Observer archives show Forest Hill still has 15 years left on its lease with the Y. — Charlotte Observer, 10 July 2026

Apollo records return The release also broadens NASA‘s contribution to the public archive. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 10 July 2026

Verb

Friday’s announcement comes after CAA called for Meta to implement guardrails for Muse, despite the agency rolling out its own AI Vault program to archive its members’ likenesses forever. — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 10 July 2026

The Library of Congress will archive a selection of stories, the company said. — James Pollard, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026

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

Rhymes for archive

• alive
• arrive
• beehive
• connive
• contrive
• deprive
• derive
• khedive
• revive
• survive
• dive
• drive

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: a place in which public records or historical documents are preserved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