Meaning & use
archiving
Last updated
“archiving” is a form of “archive”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
noununcountable
The activity of storing records, documents or data safely for long-term keeping.
Grammar: No plural and no 'an': archiving is time-consuming.
Patterns
- the archiving of something
- archiving of records
Archiving of old tax records is required by law for seven years.
The library is hiring someone to handle photograph archiving.
Good archiving saves hours when you later need an old contract.
verbtransitivecomputing
The -ing form of archive: putting documents or files into long-term storage, or moving digital items out of daily view without deleting them.
Grammar: Takes an object: she is archiving the files.
Patterns
- archiving something
- archiving something to somewhere
I am archiving last year's emails so my inbox stays tidy.
The museum is archiving its collection of letters in a climate-controlled room.
They spent the weekend archiving project files onto an external drive.
Word forms
| base form | archive |
|---|---|
| third person singular | archives |
| past tense | archived |
Common combinations
- digital archiving
- Digital archiving keeps old websites available for researchers.
- archiving system
- The firm installed a new archiving system for legal files.
- email archiving
- Email archiving is required for financial companies.
- archiving and retrieval
- Archiving and retrieval of records must be fast.
- long-term archiving
- Long-term archiving needs formats that will not become obsolete.
Synonyms and how they differ
- storing
- Storing is general; archiving implies organized, long-term keeping of records for later reference.
- filing
- Filing is routine organizing of papers, while archiving suggests moving older material into permanent safekeeping.
- cataloging
- Cataloging means listing and describing items, which often accompanies archiving but is not the same as storing them.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: archiving or arching?
archiving vs arching
Arching means forming a curve, as a cat arches its back; it is unrelated to storing records.
Practice
Our office is ______ all documents older than ten years instead of throwing them away.
Choose one answer.
Archiving means keeping records safely long-term. Deleting and shredding mean destroying them, so they contradict 'instead of throwing away'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “archiving”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.