The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

archives \archives\ n.
   1. a collection of records especially about an institution.
      [WordNet 1.5]

   2. a place where historical records and documents are kept.
      [WordNet 1.5]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Archive \Ar"chive\, n.; pl. Archives. [F. archives, pl., L.
   archivum, archium, fr. Gr. ? government house, ? ? archives,
   fr. ? the first place, government. See Archi-, pref.]
   1. pl. The place in which public records or historic
      documents are kept.
      [1913 Webster]

            Our words . . . . become records in God's court, and
            are laid up in his archives as witnesses. --Gov. of
                                                  Tongue.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. pl. Public records or documents preserved as evidence of
      facts; as, the archives of a country or family.
      [1913 Webster] [Rarely used in sing.]
      [1913 Webster]

            Some rotten archive, rummaged out of some seldom
            explored press.                       --Lamb.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: Registers; records; chronicles.
        [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

archives
    n 1: collection of records especially about an institution

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

102 Moby Thesaurus words for "archives":
   Indian reservation, ana, armory, arsenal, athenaeum, attic, bank,
   basement, bay, bin, biographical material, biographical records,
   bird sanctuary, bonded warehouse, bookcase, box, bunker, buttery,
   cargo dock, cellar, chancery, chest, clippings, closet,
   conservatory, crate, crib, cupboard, cuttings, depository, depot,
   dock, drawer, dump, excerpts, exchequer, extracts, files,
   forest preserve, fragments, game reserve, gleanings, glory hole,
   godown, government archives, government papers,
   historical documents, historical records, hold, hutch, library,
   life records, locker, lumber room, lumberyard, magasin, magazine,
   memorabilia, monument, museum, national forest, national park,
   papers, paradise, parish rolls, park, preserve,
   presidential papers, public records, rack, record, register office,
   registry, repertory, repository, reservation, reserve, reservoir,
   rick, sanctuary, shelf, stack, stack room, state forest,
   stock room, storage, store, storehouse, storeroom, supply base,
   supply depot, tank, treasure house, treasure room, treasury, vat,
   vault, warehouse, wilderness preserve, wildlife preserve,
   wine cellar, writings



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

ARCHIVES. Ancient charters or titles, which concern a nation, state, or
community, in their rights or privileges. The place where the archives are
kept bears the same name. Jacob, L. D. h.t.; Merl. Rep. h.t.