I. rə̇ˈpäzəˌtōrē, rēˈp-, -tȯr-, -ri noun
( -es )
Etymology: Latin repositorium, from repositus (past participle of reponere ) + -orium -ory
1. : a place, room, or container where something is deposited or stored : depository
the child's desk … as a repository for his music papers and other oddments — Marcia Davenport
as
a. : a building or room for the exhibition of a collection (as of works of art) : museum
a single museum serves not only as local repository for cultural monuments but also as a community center — Lincoln Kirstein
b. : a burial vault
c. : a place where something is kept or shown for sale : a warehouse, store, or showroom
now had an office and a clerk and they had a repository … for their finished work — Ben Riker
d. : a side altar or niche in a Roman Catholic church where the consecrated Host is deposited from Maundy Thursday until Good Friday — called also altar of repose
2. : one that contains or stores something nonmaterial : storehouse
although well written and attractively printed, is little more than a repository of linguistic superstitions — R.A.Hall b.1911
theoretically the mob is the repository of all political wisdom and virtue — H.L.Mencken
3. : a place or region richly supplied with some natural resource
the repository of fabulous oil resources — A.E.Stevenson b.1900
4. : a person to whom something is confided or entrusted
he had been an entranced repository of many secrets — John Buchan
II. adjective
of a drug : designed to act over a prolonged period : slowly absorbed : depot
repository penicillin