archive

[ ahr-kahyv ]
See synonyms for archive on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Usually archives. documents or records relating to the activities, business dealings, etc., of a person, family, corporation, association, community, or nation.

  2. archives, a place where public records or other historical documents are kept.

  1. any extensive record or collection of data: The encyclopedia is an archive of world history. The experience was sealed in the archive of her memory.

  2. Digital Technology.

    • a long-term storage device, as a disk or magnetic tape, or a computer directory or folder that contains copies of files for backup or future reference.

    • a collection of digital data stored in this way.

    • a computer file containing one or more compressed files.

    • a collection of information permanently stored on the internet: The magazine has its entire archive online, from 1923 to the present.

verb (used with object),ar·chived, ar·chiv·ing.
  1. to place or store in an archive: to vote on archiving the city's historic documents.

  2. Digital Technology. to compress (computer files) and store them in a single file.

Origin of archive

1
First recorded in 1595–1605; originally, as plural, from French archives, from the Late Latin plural noun archīva, archīa “public records,” from Greek archeîa “public records,” plural of archeîon “town hall, public office,” equivalent to archḗ “magistracy, office” + -eion suffix of location

Words Nearby archive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use archive in a sentence

  • She came rushing out of the archive laden with precious records up to her chin.

    The Brain | Alexander Blade
  • Scans for this book can be found in the Internet archive (copy 1).

    Breton Legends | Anonymous
  • Scans for this book are available from the Internet archive (copy 1, 2, 3, 4).

    Solomon and Solomonic Literature | Moncure Daniel Conway
  • Scans for this book are available from the Internet archive (copy 1, 2, 3).

  • This book was prepared of scans of the second edition, available on the Internet archive: 1, 2, 3.

    Basque Legends | Wentworth Webster

British Dictionary definitions for archive

archive

/ (ˈɑːkaɪv) /


noun(often plural)
  1. a collection of records of or about an institution, family, etc

  2. a place where such records are kept

  1. computing data transferred to a tape or disk for long-term storage rather than frequent use

verb(tr)
  1. to store (documents, data, etc) in an archive or other repository

Origin of archive

1
C17: from Late Latin archīvum, from Greek arkheion repository of official records, from arkhē government

Derived forms of archive

  • archival, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012