archive

Definition

A place for storing earlier, and often historical, material. An archive usually contains documents (letters, records, newspapers, etc.) or other types of media kept for historical interest.

Etymology

First appears c. 1603 in a translation by Philemon Holland. From French archive(s), from Latin archīvum, from Ancient Greek ἀρχεῖον (arkheîon, “town hall”).

Example Sentences

• "“I don’t know how one could be interested in libraries and not archives,” Lannon told me. They tell you “the stories behind things,” he said, “the unpublished, the hard to find, the true story."
• "His archive of Old High German texts is the most extensive in Britain."
• "soil archive"