An archive is an accumulation of historical records – in any media – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of that person or organization.

Does Archive mean delete?

The Archive action removes the message from view in the inbox and puts it in the All Mail area, in case you ever need it again. ... The Delete action moves the selected message to the Trash area, where it stays for 30 days before it is permanently deleted.

What happens if you Archive?

So in effect, archiving lets you tidy up your inbox by moving messages from your inbox into your All Mail label, so you don't have to delete anything. ... when someone responds to a message you've archived, the conversation containing that message will reappear in your inbox automatically!