'archival' originates from the word 'archive', which comes from the Greek word 'arkheion', where 'arkhē' meant 'government' or 'rule'.

'archive' changed from the Greek word 'arkheion' to the Latin 'archivum', and eventually became the modern English word 'archive'.

Initially, it meant 'a place where public records or historical documents are kept', and this meaning has largely remained the same in modern usage.