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

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

Get access to select stories from the archives, along with unlimited digital access to Vogue, for $3 $1/month for one year. —Jonathan Van Meter, Vogue, 28 Sep. 2025

Start with the core-album catalog, and then comb through the Rolling Stone article archive. —Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 27 Sep. 2025

Verb

Continuing the work As crucial as these efforts are, Mahr said archiving alone isn’t enough to ensure datasets are useful in the long term; environmental data collection needs to continue. —Marlowe Starling, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025

Samantha's entire collection was archived in 2009. —Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2025

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
• revive
• survive
• dive
• drive
• five

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: a place in which public records or historical documents are preserved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