archive

/ˌɑrˈkaɪv/

/ˈɑkaɪv/

Other forms: archives; archived; archiving

An archive is a collection of older things — documents, books, movies, or something else — that's meant to preserve them. Archives tell us about history.

An archive involves old stuff — specifically, a collection of old stuff, often put together by a librarian. Newspaper archives collect old newspapers, usually all copies of a paper from a certain date onward. There are movie and music archives. Most museums have many types of archives within them. And it's always a good idea to keep an archive of important files on your computer. When you put something in an archive, you're archiving it.

Definitions of archive

1. noun

   a depository containing historical records and documents
   types:

   chancery

   an office of archives for public or ecclesiastic records; a court of public records

   type of:

   deposit, depositary, depository, repository

   a facility where things can be deposited for storage or safekeeping
2. verb

   put into an archive
   synonyms: file away

   type of:

   collect, pull in

   get or bring together