archive

arch·ive
A1R1C3H4I1V4E1
UK/ˈɑːkaɪv/UK/-kɪv/US/ˈɑɹˌkaɪv/Australia/ˈaːkɑɪv/

noun

A repository or other place for storing material (such as documents and records) no longer in current use, and usually having historical value.

“peat archive    soil archive”

Similar
archivizefile away
Opposite
de-archiveunarchive
OriginFrench archive ← Latin archīvum ← Ancient Greek ἀρχεῖον (arkheîon) →
Very commonScrabble 15
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Meanings

nounarchive (plural archives)

plural archives

  1. Chiefly in the form archives.
    1. A repository or other place for storing material (such as documents and records) no longer in current use, and usually having historical value.

      The chiefeſt of the firſt Precinct vvas Lubeck, vvhere the Archives of their ancient Records, and their prime Chancery is ſtill, […]

      1632 October 29 (Gregorian calendar), James Howell, “III. To the Right Honourable the Earl R. from Hamburgh.”, in Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ. Familiar Letters Domestic and Forren. […], 3rd edition, volume I, London: […] Humphrey Mos[e]ley, […], published 1655, →OCLC, section VI, page 222
      3 more examples

      The preſident accepted the Marquis's ſvvord—he ſtay'd a fevv minutes to ſee it depoſited in the archives of his houſe—and departed.

      1768, Mr. Yorick [pseudonym; Laurence Sterne], “The Sword. Rennes.”, in A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy, volume II, London: […] T. Becket and P. A. De Hondt, […], →OCLC, page 56

      The court, however, was relieved from giving judgment on the case before it, by the death of the prince, which put a stop to its proceedings; the minutes of which were sealed up in a green coffer, and, by order of the king, deposited in the archive of Simancas by Christóval de Mora.

      1851, Adolfo de Castro, chapter XXI, in Thomas Parker, transl., The Spanish Protestants, and Their Persecution by Philip II.; a Historical Work, […], London: Charles Gilpin, […]; Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black; Dublin: J. B. Gilpin, →OCLC, page 324

      "I don't know how one could be interested in libraries and not archives," [Thomas] Lannon told me. They tell you "the stories behind things," he said, "the unpublished, the hard to find, the true story."

      2017 September 20, James Somers, “Keepers of the Secrets”, in The Village Voice, New York, N.Y.: Village Voice, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 May 2026
    2. The material so stored, considered as a whole.

      His archive of Old High German texts is the most extensive in Britain.

      2 more examples

      [H]e took a particular Journy to Sparta, to ſearch the Archives of that famous Commonvvealth, to underſtand throughly the model of their ancient Government, their Legiſlators, their Kings, and their Ephori, […]

      1683, John Dryden, “The Life of Plutarch”, in Plutarch, Plutarchs Lives. Translated from the Greek […], volume I, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, pages 22–23

      […] I found [G. D.] busy as a moth over some rotten archive, rummaged out of some seldom-explored press, in a nook at Oriel.

      1823, Elia [pseudonym; Charles Lamb], “Oxford in the Vacation”, in Elia. Essays which have Appeared under that Signature in The London Magazine, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 21
    3. broadlybiologyA natural deposit of material, regarded as a record of environmental changes over time.

      peat archive    soil archive

      1 more example

      Even these 100,000-year cycles seem to be subject to still longer fluctuations, but here the historical archive begins to be less reliable. The ice archive, in any case, can no longer help us (ice clearly does not preserve prehistorical temperatures directly, but rather atmospheric isotope signals, which are just as dependable).

      2017, Dag Olav Hessen, “Between a Snowball and Hell”, in Kerri Pierce, transl., The Many Lives of Carbon, London: Reaktion Books, →ISBN, part II (The C in Cycle), page 178
  2. figurativelyA collection, a repository.

    [S]o expert was he, and a living archive in that business: however, his post seems to have vanished with himself.

    1862, Thomas Carlyle, “The Homaging”, in History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book XI, page 53
    1 more example

    [T]heſe curious meddlers in collecting and gathering together on all ſides the errours, imperfections, defaults, and ſolæciſmes (as I may ſo ſay) not of verſes or Poemes, but of other mens lives, make of their memorie a moſt unpleaſant Archive or Regiſter, and uncivile Record, vvhich they ever carie about them.

    1603, Plutarch, “Of Cvriositie”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, →OCLC, page 140
verbarchive (third-person singular simple present archives, present participle archiving, simple past and past participle archived)

present singular third person archives · participle present archiving · participle past archived · past archived

  1. transitiveTo place or store (something, such as a document or record) in an archive (noun sense 1.1).

    The library archives some of its older books.

    1 more example

    I was planning on archiving the documents from 2001.

    Synonyms: archivize, file away · Antonyms: de-archive, unarchive

  2. transitivecomputingTo transfer (less used or obsolete data, files, etc.) to a storage medium for long-term storage.

    Antonyms: de-archive, unarchive

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo place or store (something, such as a document or record) in an archive (noun sense 1.1).

Similar
archivizefile away
Opposite
de-archiveunarchive

verbTo transfer (less used or obsolete data, files, etc.) to a storage medium for long-term storage.

Opposite
de-archiveunarchive
Narrower
bioarchivee-archivenational archivesubarchive

More synonyms by meaning

verbput into an archive

Similar
file away
Broader
collectpull in
Also see
archivizefile awayrepository

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂er-der.?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ergʰ-der.?
  3. Ancient Greekἄρχω (árkhō)
  4. Ancient Greekᾰ̓ρχή (ărkhḗ)
  5. Ancient Greek*ἀρχεῖος (*arkheîos)
  6. Ancient Greekἀρχεῖον (arkheîon)
  7. Latinarchīvum
  8. Frencharchives
  9. Frencharchive
  10. Englisharchive

The noun is borrowed from French archive, archif, from Late Latin archīvum, archīum (“archive; room containing an archive; public record office”), from Ancient Greek ἀρχεῖον (arkheîon, “office of a magistrate; public building or office; town hall; (in the plural) archives; public records”), a noun use of the neuter form of *ἀρχεῖος (*arkheîos, “relating to an office”), from ᾰ̓ρχή (ărkhḗ, “beginning, origin; authority, sovereignty”) (from ἄρχω (árkhō, “to begin; to govern, rule”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- (“to fit; to fix; to put together”), or *h₂ergʰ- (“to begin; to command; to rule”)) + -ῐος (-ĭos, suffix meaning ‘of or relating to’ forming adjectives). The verb is derived from the noun.

More words from French, Late Latin, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ἀρχεῖα
  • ἀρχεῖα (arkheîa)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
Arabic أَرْشِيف
  • أَرْشِيف (ʔaršīf)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
Bulgarian архи́в, архивирам
  • архи́в (arhív)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • архивирам (arhiviram)to place or store (something) in an archive
Catalan arxiu
  • arxiurepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
Chinese Mandarin 存檔 /存档, 檔案 /档案
  • 存檔 /存档 (cúndàng)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • 檔案 /档案 (dàng'àn)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • 檔案館 /档案馆 (dàng'ànguǎn)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • 卷宗 (juànzōng)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • 歸檔 /归档 (guīdàng)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • 檔案 /档案 (dàng'àn)to place or store (something) in an archive
  • 歸檔 /归档 (guīdàng)to place or store (something) in an archive
Czech archiv, archivovat
  • archivrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • archivovatto place or store (something) in an archive
Danish arkiv, arkivere
  • arkivrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • arkivereto place or store (something) in an archive
Dutch archief, archiveren
  • archiefrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • archiverento place or store (something) in an archive
Esperanto arĥivo, arkivo
  • arĥivorepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • arkivorepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • arĥivejorepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • arkivejorepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • arĥivito place or store (something) in an archive
  • arkivito place or store (something) in an archive
Estonian arhiiv
  • arhiivrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
Finnish arkisto, arkisto
  • arkistorepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • arkistonatural deposit of material, regarded as a record of environmental changes over time
  • arkistomaterial so stored, considered as a whole
  • arkistoidato place or store (something) in an archive
  • arkistoidato transfer (less used or obsolete data, files, etc.) to a storage medium for long-term storage
French archives, archiver
  • archivesrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • archiverto place or store (something) in an archive
German Archiv, archivieren
  • Archivrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • archivierento place or store (something) in an archive
Greek αρχείο, σμήνος
  • αρχείο (archeío)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • σμήνος (smínos)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • αρχειοθετώ (archeiothetó)to place or store (something) in an archive
Hebrew אַרְכִיּוֹן
  • אַרְכִיּוֹן (arkhión)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
Hindi पुरालेख, पुरालेख
  • पुरालेख (purālekh)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • पुरालेख (purālekh)material so stored, considered as a whole
Hungarian archívum, irattár
  • archívumrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • irattárrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • levéltárrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • okmánytárrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • archiválto place or store (something) in an archive
Indonesian arsip, pertinggal
  • arsiprepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • pertinggalmaterial so stored, considered as a whole
  • mengarsipkanto place or store (something) in an archive
  • mempertinggalto place or store (something) in an archive
Irish aircív, cartlann
  • aircívrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • cartlannrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
Italian archivio, banca dati
  • archiviorepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • banca datirepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • archiviareto place or store (something) in an archive
Japanese アーカイブ, 文書の保管所
  • アーカイブ (ākaibu)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • 文書の保管所 (bunsho no hokansho)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • 書庫 (shoko)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • アーカイブに格納する (ākaibu ni kakunō suru)to place or store (something) in an archive
Korean 아카이브, 보관소
  • 아카이브 (akaibeu)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • 보관소 (bogwanso)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • 공문서 (gongmunseo)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • 보존하다 (bojonhada)to place or store (something) in an archive
  • 보관하다 (bogwanhada)to place or store (something) in an archive
Latin archium, archīvum
  • archiumrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • archīvumrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • tabulāriumrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
Latvian arhīvs
  • arhīvsrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
Lithuanian archyvas, archyvuoti
  • archyvasrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • archyvuotito place or store (something) in an archive
Malay arkib
  • arkibrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
Māori pūranga, whare pūranga
  • pūrangarepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • whare pūrangarepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • pūrangato place or store (something) in an archive
  • whakapūketeto place or store (something) in an archive
  • whakapututo place or store (something) in an archive
Norwegian Bokmål arkiv, arkivere
  • arkivrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • arkivereto place or store (something) in an archive
Persian آرشیو, بایگانی
  • آرشیو (âršiv)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • بایگانی (bâyegâni)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
Polish archiwum, archiwizować
  • archiwumrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • archiwizowaćto place or store (something) in an archive
  • zarchiwizowaćto place or store (something) in an archive
Portuguese arquivo, arquivar
  • arquivorepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • arquivarto place or store (something) in an archive
Romanian arhivă, arhiva
  • arhivărepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • arhivato place or store (something) in an archive
Russian архи́в, архиви́ровать
  • архи́в (arxív)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • архиви́ровать (arxivírovatʹ)to place or store (something) in an archive
Scottish Gaelic tasg-lann
  • tasg-lannrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
Slovak archív, archivovať
  • archívrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • archivovaťto place or store (something) in an archive
Spanish archivo, archivar
  • archivorepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • archivarto place or store (something) in an archive
Swedish arkiv, arkivera
  • arkivrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • arkiverato place or store (something) in an archive
Tagalog sinupan
  • sinupanrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
Thai หอจดหมายเหตุ, หน่วยเก็บถาวร
  • หอจดหมายเหตุrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • หน่วยเก็บถาวรrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
Turkish arşiv, arşivlemek
  • arşivrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • arşivlemekto place or store (something) in an archive
  • belgeliklemekto place or store (something) in an archive
Ukrainian архі́в
  • архі́в (arxív)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
Vietnamese trung tâm lưu trữ, kho tàng
  • trung tâm lưu trữrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • kho tàngrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • tàng thưrepository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value
  • lưu trữ thông tinto place or store (something) in an archive
Yiddish אַרכיוו
  • אַרכיוו (arkhiv)repository or other place for storing material no longer in current use, and usually having historical value

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Varchie
Cite this entry
APA

archive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/archive

MLA

“archive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/archive. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “archive,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/archive.

Source: archive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.