archive
arch·ive/ˈɑɹˌkaɪv/noun, verb
archive is spelled A-R-C-H-I-V-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables (arch·ive). It appears 9.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,338th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, archive means “A repository or other place for storing material (such as documents and records) no longer in current use, and usually having historical value” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of archive is archives.
How many letters and syllables are in archive?
| Letters | 7: A-R-C-H-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: arch·ive |
| In writing | 9.5 times per million words; the 7,338th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is archive?
Archive appears 9.5 times per million words in written English, the 7,338th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce archive?
- UK /ˈɑːkaɪv/
- UK /-kɪv/
- US /ˈɑɹˌkaɪv/
Archive has 2 syllables, split arch·ive in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-archive.ogg, En-us-archive.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of archive
- archives plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- archiving participle, present
- archived participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does archive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A repository or other place for storing material (such as documents and records) no longer in current use, and usually having historical value.
- 2
The material so stored, considered as a whole.
His archive of Old High German texts is the most extensive in Britain.
- 3
A natural deposit of material, regarded as a record of environmental changes over time.
peat archive soil archive
- 4
A collection, a repository.
verb
- 1
To place or store (something, such as a document or record) in an archive (noun sense 1.1).
I was planning on archiving the documents from 2001.
- 2
To transfer (less used or obsolete data, files, etc.) to a storage medium for long-term storage.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Archive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | archives , archiver |
| German | Archiv , archivieren |
| Portuguese | arquivo , arquivar |
| Spanish | archivo , archivar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.