Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Archive \Ar"chive\, n.; pl. {Archives}. [F. archives, pl., L.
   archivum, archium, fr. Gr. ? government house, ? ? archives,
   fr. ? the first place, government. See {Archi-}, pref.]
   1. pl. The place in which public records or historic
      documents are kept.

            Our words . . . . become records in God's court, and
            are laid up in his archives as witnesses. --Gov. of
                                                  Tongue.

   2. pl. Public records or documents preserved as evidence of
      facts; as, the archives of a country or family. [Rarely
      used in sing.]

            Some rotten archive, rummaged out of some seldom
            explored press.                       --Lamb.

   Syn: Registers; records; chronicles.

Source : WordNet®

archives
     n 1: collection of records especially about an institution
     2: a depository containing historical records and documents
        [syn: {archive}]