repository

American  

[ri-poz-i-tawr-ee] / rɪˈpɒz ɪˌtɔr i /

noun

plural

repositories

1. a receptacle or place where things are deposited, stored, or offered for sale.

   a repository for discarded clothing.

   Synonyms:

   depository, storehouse, depot

2. an abundant source or supply; storehouse.

   a repository of information.

3. a person to whom something is entrusted or confided.

4. a burial place; sepulcher.

5. Informal, repo.  Computers. a collection of stored data or software, or the place where it is stored, often a proprietary site in the cloud.

   The company hosts a cloud-based repository to help software developers store, track, and manage changes to their code.

6. Chiefly British. warehouse.

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repository British  

/ rɪˈpɒzɪtərɪ, -trɪ /

noun

1. a place or container in which things can be stored for safety

2. a place where things are kept for exhibition; museum

3. a place where commodities are kept before being sold; warehouse

4. a place of burial; sepulchre

5. a receptacle containing the relics of the dead

6. a person to whom a secret is entrusted; confidant

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Etymology

Origin of repository

1475–85; < Latin repositōrium that in which anything is placed; see reposit, -tory ²

Explanation

Think of a repository as a storehouse, a place where things are kept until needed. A silo is a repository for animal feed, and a trivia buff's mind is a repository for useless information. The noun repository has a somewhat formal ring to it — why not just call a storehouse a storehouse, right? Think of a repository as somewhat more important and imposing than just a place to dump stuff. It has more of an air of authority, like the things stored there could change the world. Consider nuclear waste — would you rather store it in a dump or a repository? I don’t know about you, but I'd prefer the latter—sounds safer.

Example Sentences

For the past decade, the Simon Lab has operated the Fibrolamellar Tissue Repository.

From Science Daily • Jun. 18, 2024

Edmond Gadzacko, who lives next door to the Dunhams, told The Canton Repository that he and his wife always enjoyed their neighbors and never had any issues with them.

From Washington Times • Aug. 25, 2023

The new Health Inequality Data Repository includes nearly two dozen demographic and socioeconomic categories, including ethnicity and level of education.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 26, 2023

Koehlmoos and her team analyzed medical records for all active duty Army soldiers in the Military Health System Data Repository, a comprehensive archive.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 2, 2023

Hooke may actually have hoped to see the physical basis of memory, the ‘continued Chain of Ideas coyled in the Repository of the Brain’.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Related Words

• archive
• depository
• storehouse