palimpsest

[pal-imp-sest]

noun

1. a parchment or the like from which writing has been partially or completely erased to make room for another text.

2. something that has a new layer, aspect, or appearance that builds on its past and allows us to see or perceive parts of this past: Today's towering Romanesque-Gothic structure is a palimpsest, the result of numerous additions and reconstructions.

   Most of what we actually see when we view any culture is a historical palimpsest, with traces of former times.

   Today's towering Romanesque-Gothic structure is a palimpsest, the result of numerous additions and reconstructions.

   Memory is a palimpsest that is continually being written over, but never perfectly so.

palimpsest

/ ˈpælɪmpˌsɛst /

noun

1. a manuscript on which two or more successive texts have been written, each one being erased to make room for the next

adjective

1. (of a text) written on a palimpsest

2. (of a document) used as a palimpsest

Other Word Forms

• palimpsestic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of palimpsest¹

First recorded in 1655–65; from Latin palimpsēstus, from Greek palímpsēstos “rubbed again” ( pálin “again” + psēstós “scraped, rubbed,” past participle of psân “to rub smooth”)

Word History and Origins

Origin of palimpsest¹

C17: from Latin palimpsestus parchment cleaned for reuse, from Greek palimpsēstos, from palin again + psēstos rubbed smooth, from psēn to scrape

Example Sentences

The end result can evoke a palimpsest feel.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Each new power painted over its predecessors’ propaganda posters and insignia, leaving the province’s buildings a palimpsest of the war’s winners and losers.

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After so many years, St. Mark’s Church is a palimpsest of memories for Mullins.

Read more on New York Times

“They have this palimpsest of a billion years of history.”

Read more on Science Magazine

“She’s creating a palimpsest of different eras,” he says, noting that unlike L.A.’s streets, which are the city’s responsibility for upkeep, sidewalks are built and maintained by private developers.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• article 
• document 
• text