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 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

Even Steinem’s New York City home has become something of an archive of the feminist movement. — Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 3 Sep. 2026

The University of Wyoming is home to an archive of undergarments. — April White, JSTOR Daily, 2 Sep. 2026

Verb

What’s unclear right now if that API and publicly available Steam2 server content were accessed recently or if this weekend’s leak represents content that was privately archived before the 2013 server transition and is just now being made public. — Kyle Orland, ArsTechnica, 30 Aug. 2026

Not only the children at the edge of the photo, which was archived in the Library of Congress, but also Stacy’s own children. — Rod Stafford Hagwood, Sun Sentinel, 20 Aug. 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: a place in which public records or historical documents are preserved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