repository

1 of 2

noun

re·​pos·​i·​to·​ry ri-ˈpä-zə-ˌtȯr-ē How to pronounce repository (audio)
plural repositories
1
: a place, room, or container where something is deposited or stored : depository
2
: a side altar in a Roman Catholic church where the consecrated Host is reserved from Maundy Thursday until Good Friday
3
: one that contains or stores something nonmaterial
considered the book a repository of knowledge
4
: a place or region richly supplied with a natural resource
5
: a person to whom something is confided or entrusted

repository

2 of 2

adjective

of a drug
: designed to act over a prolonged period
repository penicillin

Examples of repository in a Sentence

Noun a repository for nuclear waste He is the repository of many secrets. She is the repository of her family's history.
Recent Examples on the Web
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Noun
An underground nuclear-waste repository in New Mexico’s southern desert also receives federal funding; after a fire and an unrelated radiological release at the facility, ten years ago, the Department of Energy spent nearly five hundred million dollars on an update to its safety infrastructure. Abe Streep, The New Yorker, 27 Dec. 2024 The year’s mounting censorship controversies ultimately—and inevitably—created a crisis of faith at these institutions, which purportedly exist as repositories of history. Tessa Solomon, ARTnews.com, 23 Dec. 2024 The quirky schoolhouse homestead that took the Internet by storm This former elementary school was once a repository for apples, a barn that housed turkeys and even a haunt for a ghost. Domenica Bongiovanni, The Indianapolis Star, 18 Dec. 2024 At the same time, contemporary art is the one kind that keeps changing, so in this grand repository of civilization’s history, the new wing must be conceived as an open-ended vessel of the future. Justin Davidson, Curbed, 10 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for repository 

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1950, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of repository was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near repository

Cite this Entry

“Repository.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/repository. Accessed 5 Jan. 2025.

Kids Definition

repository

noun
re·​pos·​i·​to·​ry
ri-ˈpäz-ə-ˌtōr-ē,
-ˌtȯr-
plural repositories
1
: a place or container where something is deposited or stored
2
: one that contains or stores something immaterial
a repository of knowledge

Medical Definition

repository

adjective
re·​pos·​i·​to·​ry ri-ˈpäz-ə-ˌtōr-ē How to pronounce repository (audio)
of a drug
: designed to act over a prolonged period
repository penicillin

More from Merriam-Webster on repository

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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