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
archived; archiving
: to file or collect in or as if in an archive
archive documents
archived tissue samples
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
Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 June 2026
Choose a Digital subscription or our best deal – All Access – that includes print and digital issues, full archive access, and the NYR App!
—Erin Maglaque, The New York Review of Books, 6 June 2026
Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 June 2026
The account mentioned in the Bee’s report seems to have removed those videos, but others have archived some of them.
—Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for archive
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Noun
Visitors passing through the imposing glass doors of FamilySearch Library on Salt Lake City’s Temple Square are likely to pause at the sheer size of the five-story, 135,000-square-foot archive, which houses the largest collection of genealogical data in the world.
—Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 June 2026
Choose a Digital subscription or our best deal – All Access – that includes print and digital issues, full archive access, and the NYR App!
—Erin Maglaque, The New York Review of Books, 6 June 2026
Verb
The letters were selected from more than 5,000 letters archived in the SDSU library’s Special Collections.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 June 2026
The account mentioned in the Bee’s report seems to have removed those videos, but others have archived some of them.
—Los Angeles Times, 14 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for archive
Cite this Entry
“Archive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/archive. Accessed 10 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids 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: a place in which public records or historical documents are preserved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
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