Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

archival

/ˌɑɹˈkaɪv(ə)l/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.28 in modern English

Syllables: ar-chiv-al
IPA: /ˌɑɹˈkaɪv(ə)l/

16

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of or pertaining to an archive or archiving.

adj

Of a material: having a quality suited to the conservational needs of archiving.

noun

The practice of storing items in an archive; archiving; (countable) an instance of this.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"In archival photographs, these lost structures appear almost futuristic (even today) in the way they carried trains across deep ravines on slender, balanced combinations of wrought and cast iron."
"archival boxes archival paper"
"Our nightly computer backups include the archival of old e-mail messages."

Etymology

The adjective is derived from archive (“place for storing earlier, and often historical, material; material so kept, considered as a whole”, noun) + -al (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). The noun is derived from archive (“to put (something) in an archive”, verb) + -al (suffix forming nouns, especially of verbal action).

Word Breakdown

Root: *h₂ergʰ-
Suffix: archive

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌɑɹˈkaɪv(ə)l/
British English: /ɑːˈkaɪv(ə)l/

Usage

Uncountable

Inflected Forms

archivals (plural)

Derived Forms

archivalism archivally nonarchival prearchival

Phrases

archival science e-archive national archive

Frequently Paired Words

archive archivist archivize e-archive national archive

Synonyms

archivation archivization

Rhymes With

arrival survival rival revival

Questions

How do you pronounce archival?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌɑɹˈkaɪv(ə)l/.
What does archival mean?: Of or pertaining to an archive or archiving.
Where does archival come from?: The adjective is derived from archive (“place for storing earlier, and often historical, material; material so kept, considered as a whole”, noun) + -al (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). The noun is derived from archive (“to put (something) in an archive”, verb) + -al (suffix forming nouns, especially of verbal action).

How to pronounce archival

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Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌɑɹˈkaɪv(ə)l/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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