What does archive mean?
Word: Archive
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Archive means a collection of old records, documents, photographs or films that are kept safely, or the place where they are kept. As a verb, it means to store something away for later.
Synonyms: records
Word origin: From French archives, through Latin archivum, from Greek arkheia, public records.
How do you spell archive?
Syllables: ar - chive
Tricky part: Students often slip an e in before the v and write archieve, because achieve and believe are so familiar. Archive has no ie: the i stands alone.
Watch out for: archieve, archeive, archiv
Memory tip: Archive is arc + hive: picture a stone arc above a busy hive, where the bees store their honey just as an archive stores old papers.
Archive in a sentence
Example 1: The newspaper's online archive lets you read reports printed in the 1950s.
Example 2: Grandma found her school report card from 1968 in the family archive, an old tin trunk under the bed.
Example 3: At the end of term, our class teacher will archive the project files on the school computer.
Fun Fact
The National Archives of the United Kingdom, at Kew in London, keeps the Domesday Book, a great survey of England made in 1086.
Practise the CREST Way
Sound Check
In which word is 'ch' pronounced differently?
a) chemist
b) chorus
c) archive
d) chimney
Show answer
d) chimney. Chimney starts with the ch of chair; in archive, chorus and chemist the ch is a hard k.
Spell Probe
One word in the sentence is misspelt. Choose the meaning of that word:
Researchers at the city archive spent a week sorting fragile letters written in 1920 by a well-known poet, and they found two that had never been publised.
a) printed and made available for people to read
b) easily broken or damaged
c) a place where old records are kept safely
d) people who study a subject carefully to find new facts
Show answer
a) printed and made available for people to read. Publised has lost the h of published; archive, fragile and researchers are all spelt correctly.
Word Champ
Read the statements and choose the correct option:
1. An archive is a place where old records and documents are kept. 2. An archivist is a person who looks after an archive. 3. To archive a file means to destroy it for ever.
a) only 3 is true
b) only 2 and 3 are true
c) only 1 and 2 are true
d) all three are true
Show answer
c) only 1 and 2 are true. Archiving keeps a file safe for later, so statement 3 gets the meaning wrong.
Word Tally
Give 2 marks for each correctly spelt word. How many marks in all?
archive, manuskript, chronicle, ledger, parchmant
a) 10
b) 4
c) 8
d) 6
Show answer
d) 6. Manuscript needs a c, not a k, and parchment ends in ment, so only three words score: 3 x 2 = 6 marks.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A film archive is the best place to look for ___.
a) old newsreels and films
b) rows of cinema seats
c) popcorn and cold drinks
d) tickets for new releases
Show answer
a) old newsreels and films
2. Old newspapers kept in an archive are most useful to ___.
a) drivers looking for a road
b) historians studying the past
c) chefs planning a menu
d) athletes training for a race
Show answer
b) historians studying the past
