archives

Forms

archives f pl (plural only)^[1] In the 16th century also the masculine plural archifs (from 1501), and once, in Amyot, a masculine singular archive.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin archīvum, with a change of gender.^[5][1][6] The Latin word, first found as archium (before 175, Fronto) and then in its usual form (after 207, Tertullian), was often used in the plural.^[5] It came from Ancient Greek ἀρχεῖον (arkheîon), whose plural had come to mean “the place where official documents are kept” and “the documents themselves”, while the singular first meant “the residence of the chief magistrates”.^[6][2][4] The Greek noun is formed on the word for “authority”, and so goes back to ἄρχω (árkhō, “to command, to begin”).^[6][4] The TLFi and the Petit Robert also allow a source in the Greek plural for “very old things”, with the regular Greek merger of its diphthongs.^[5][7] Rey stresses that the word is therefore only indirectly related to archéo- “ancient”, although the stem is the same.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Petit Robert and the Grand Robert date the singular archive to 1282, in the sense of a body of documents.^[7][3] The TLFi's first record is from 1416, in the consular registers of Lyon, where copies of the registers are to “be and remain” ès archives de la ville, “in the town archives”, meaning the collection of old documents and titles.^[5][8]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word has mainly meant documents kept for their historical value.^[6] The sense “place where these documents are kept” is found in 1416 according to the Petit Robert and Rey, and in 1565 in Étienne Pasquier, in the masculine form archifs, according to the TLFi; in the 15th century this sense was more or less confused with that of bibliothèque.^[7][6][5] The Académie's dictionary of 1694 gives the place first and the papers themselves second.^[9] The word then came to stand for the administrative service in charge of them,^[8] and, figuratively, for the memories and testimonies of the past.^[6][8]

The Académie recorded the familiar mettez cela dans vos archives “keep that carefully” (1878, 1932), and cela est bon pour les archives says that something has lost its present interest.^[5] The singular une archive, “a document from archives”, is recent (1913).^[6]

Timeline

• 1282 – The singular archive is recorded.^[3][6]
• 1416 – Archives appears in the consular registers of Lyon.^[5][2][8]
• 1486 – The agent noun archivaire is recorded.^[6]
• 1501 – The masculine plural variant archifs is recorded.^[3]
• 1556 – The verb archiver is first found.^[6]
• 1565 – Étienne Pasquier uses archifs for the place where documents are kept.^[5]
• 1694 – The Académie records the place and the documents.^[9]
• 1701 – archiviste is recorded, later replacing archivaire.^[2][6]
• 1913 – The singular une archive “a document from archives” is used.^[6]
• 1951 – archivage is recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A body of old documents collected, sorted and kept for historical purposes, as of a state, a town, a family or a firm: les archives de notre village.^[7][10][8]
2. The place where such documents are deposited and kept: elle passe ses journées aux archives.^[7][10][8]
3. The administration or service in charge of archives: les Archives nationales.^[8][10]
4. (figurative) The record or memory of the past, a store of facts and testimonies: les archives de sa mémoire.^[5][8]
5. (familiar) Cela est bon pour les archives: it is no longer of any interest.^[5]

Word family

• archiver
• archiviste
• archivage
• archivable

Related words

• Latin archīvum
• Ancient Greek ἀρχεῖον (arkheîon)
• English archive

Usage notes

The word is a feminine plural; in the 16th century Amyot used a masculine singular archive (“Les curieux font de leur memoire un archive”), a gender Littré puts down to the Latin.^[4][2] The modern singular une archive is recent.^[6][5] Féraud (1787) wrote it archîves.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b Académie française (1694), Le Dictionnaire de l'Académie françoise, 1st ed., Paris: Coignard
10. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)