repository
Americannoun
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a receptacle or place where things are deposited, stored, or offered for sale.
a repository for discarded clothing.
- Synonyms:
- depository, storehouse, depot
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an abundant source or supply; storehouse.
a repository of information.
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a person to whom something is entrusted or confided.
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a burial place; sepulcher.
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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.
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Chiefly British. warehouse.
noun
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a place or container in which things can be stored for safety
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a place where things are kept for exhibition; museum
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a place where commodities are kept before being sold; warehouse
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a place of burial; sepulchre
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a receptacle containing the relics of the dead
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a person to whom a secret is entrusted; confidant
Other Word Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing repository
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The doors slide open, revealing the entrance to what is expected to be the world's first permanent repository for radioactive spent nuclear fuel.
From Barron's • Jun. 1, 2026
Within a week, she says, other project managers, designers and engineers had cloned her repository to spin up their own agents.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 26, 2026
For years, Google maintained a database known internally as Sensorvault, an immense repository of detailed location information associated with users who enabled the company’s location history feature.
From Slate • May 20, 2026
And Sultan sees growing adoption of the company’s Artifactory repository for software and code as something that can help the business going forward.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 31, 2026
Almost everyone is eager to talk, and I soon become a walking repository of complaints.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
