palimpsest
[ pal-imp-sest ]
/ ˈpæl ɪmpˌsɛst /
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noun
a parchment or the like from which writing has been partially or completely erased to make room for another text.
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: 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.
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Origin of palimpsest
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”)
OTHER WORDS FROM palimpsest
pal·imp·ses·tic [pal-imp-ses-tik] /ˌpæl ɪmpˈsɛs tɪk/ adjectiveWords nearby palimpsest
Palikir, palila, palilalia, palilogy, palimony, palimpsest, palimscope, palindrome, palindromia, palindromic, paling
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use palimpsest in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for palimpsest
palimpsest
/ (ˈpælɪmpˌsɛst) /
noun
a manuscript on which two or more successive texts have been written, each one being erased to make room for the next
adjective
(of a text) written on a palimpsest
(of a document) used as a palimpsest
Word Origin for palimpsest
C17: from Latin palimpsestus parchment cleaned for reuse, from Greek palimpsēstos, from palin again + psēstos rubbed smooth, from psēn to scrape
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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