Archivisch

Archivisch is a German adjective meaning related to archives or archive-related. It is used to describe materials, methods, and practices associated with archives. The term derives from Archiv, the German word for archive, with the adjectival suffix -isch. It is primarily encountered in scholarly, archival science, and historical contexts.

In use, archivisch describes sources or objects with an archival character, for example archivische Quellen (archival sources), archivische Bestände (archival holdings), and archivische Ordnung (archival arrangement). It can also refer to archival methods or practices, such as archivische Provenienzforschung or archivische Praxis, emphasizing provenance, authenticity, and the institutional context of documentation rather than its literary or commercial presentation.

Outside German, the closest equivalents are archival or archivistic in English; in German, archivisch is a specialized term more common in academic prose than in everyday speech. It is distinct from Archiv (the archive) and from Archivar/Archivarin (the archivist), the latter being the person responsible for handling archives.

Related concepts include Archivkunde (archival science), Archivwesen (archive administration), Archivmaterial (archival material), and Quellenkunde (study of sources).