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archives,a place where public records or other historical documents are kept.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.
verb (used with object),ar·chived,ar·chiv·ing.
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.
Origin of archive
1595–1605; orig., as plural < Frencharchives < Latinarchī(v)a < Greekarcheîa, orig. plural of archeîon public office, equivalent to arch(ḗ) magistracy, office + -eion suffix of place
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).
archive
v.
1819 (implied in archived), from archives. Related: Archiving.
