Ar'chīve, n.

n.; pl. AR'chīves (-kīvz). [Fr. archives, pl., It. archivio, Lat. archivum, archium, Gr. ἀρχεῖον, government-house, from ἀρχή, the first place, government. See ARCH.]

1Sense 1. The place in which public records are kept.

Our words . . . become records in God's court, and are laid up in his archives as witnesses either for or against us. Gov. of Tongue.

2Sense 2. Public records and papers which are preserved as evidence of facts.

This word is used in the singular by Warburton and others, but most commonly the plural alone is used.

Synonyms—Registers; records; chronicles.