Search

Usually, archives. documents or records relating to the activities, business dealings, etc., of a person, family, corporation, association, community, or nation.
archives, a place where public records or other historical documents are kept.
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.
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.

to place or store in an archive:
to vote on archiving the city’s historic documents.
Digital Technology. to compress (computer files) and store them in a single file.
Contemporary Examples

He was, after all, writing before the collapse of communism and the opening of the archives of various intelligence agencies.
Oliver Stone’s Junk History of the United States Debunked Michael Moynihan November 18, 2012

Jenny and Ichabod rack their brains before eventually deciding to hunt for the missing Franklin documents at the archives.
Naked Ben Franklin Christens the Campy Return of ‘Sleepy Hollow’ Amy Zimmerman September 22, 2014

In this weekly feature, we dig into the NEWSWEEK archives to see how times have changed—or in some cases, haven’t.
Reliving History: ‘Young Wives With Brains’ Jessica Bennett March 5, 2011

He telephoned the archives and I was buzzed through a locked door to climb up several hundred stone steps to the Round Tower.
Working in The Royal Archives and Dreaming Up a Novel Tom Sykes October 15, 2012

Last year, the Home Office said the dossier had mysteriously disappeared from the archives.
Victim: I Watched British MPs Rape and Murder Young Boys Nico Hines December 17, 2014

Historical Examples

All the archives that were found were the plans and lists of the members and a parcel of letters of correspondence.
Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of Europe John Robison

In the middle of the court is the donjon, which contains the archives and the treasure.
English Villages P. H. Ditchfield

The archives of the city and church contain much interesting material regarding this celebrated mediæval theologian.
The Spell of Flanders Edward Neville Vose

Both briefs are preserved in the archives of the State-house of Nepi.
Lucretia Borgia Ferdinand Gregorovius

Foucart, P. Campagne de Prusse , d’aprs les archives de la guerre.
The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte William Milligan Sloane

noun (often pl)
a collection of records of or about an institution, family, etc
a place where such records are kept
(computing) data transferred to a tape or disk for long-term storage rather than frequent use
verb (transitive)
to store (documents, data, etc) in an archive or other repository
n.

c.1600, from French archif (16c.), from Late Latin archivum (singular), from Greek ta arkheia “public records,” plural of arkheion “town hall,” from arkhe “government,” literally “beginning, origin, first place” (see archon).
v.

1819 (implied in archived), from archives. Related: Archiving.