archive

play

noun ar·chive \ˈär-ˌkīv\

Definition of archive

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

See archive defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of archive from the Web

Rights campaigners also want France’s new government to open archives expected to reveal complicity between French officials—not only bankers—and the génocidaires.

— The Economist, "A long reckoningBNP Paribas faces accusations over the Rwandan genocide", 5 July 2017
Police report: Fort Worth officer detains suspect in road rage incident This report contains information from Star-Telegram archives.

— domingo ramirez jr., star-telegram, "Third road rage shooting in North Texas since Sunday leaves one wounded", 28 June 2017
Then, on November 11, 2018, the 100th anniversary of the end of the war, the collection will go online as an archive free to the public.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Oxford Is Digitizing UK’s World War I Memorabilia", 21 June 2017
Unlike other archives, Walker plans to develop algorithms that will allow users to better understand the connections between women across historical eras, nationalities, and religions.

— elizabeth weingarten, The Atlantic, "Is This the End of the Crusade for Gender-Equal Curricula?", 15 June 2017
Sorrels donated papers, clippings and other ephemera, including a peace quilt, to the archive.

— dana oland kristin rodine, idahostatesman, "Beloved Idaho folksinger Rosalie Sorrels dies; memorial will be held in Boise", 12 June 2017
Volf spent three years visiting her family members and reviewed personal photo archives that had been kept private for over 40 years.

— hyunjee lee, The Cut, "Gowns, Gloves, and Cartier Jewels: A New Book Remembers Opera Singer Maria Callas", 4 June 2017
OK, time to get my head out of The Courant archives, a world in which one can get lost for hours.

— jeff otterbein, courant.com, "On A Day Dedicated To Memories, Let's Revisit Some Long-Ago Sports Pages", 27 May 2017
As part of the commemoration, the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas, where García Márquez’s archives have been kept since 2015, will open an online exhibit of unique materials.

— alvaro santana-acuña, The Atlantic, "One Hundred Years of Solitude", 22 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'archive'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of archive

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

NEW!

First Known Use: 1603

See Words from the same year

archive

verb ar·chive

Definition of archive

archived

;

archiving

transitive verb
: to file or collect in or as if in an archive archive documents archived tissue samples

See archive defined for English-language learners

Examples of archive in a Sentence

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