palimpsest

American  

[pal-imp-sest] / ˈpæl ɪmpˌsɛst /

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.

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palimpsest British  

/ 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

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adjective

1. (of a text) written on a palimpsest

2. (of a document) used as a palimpsest

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• palimpsestic
  adjective

Etymology

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”)

Explanation

If you are writing fast and hastily erase something not quite all the way and continue writing right over the smudgy bit, then you’ve created a palimpsest — which means you can see traces of the earlier writing mixed in with the new. The noun palimpsest originally described a document, such as a page from a manuscript written on parchment, that had been rubbed smooth so it could be used again, with traces of the original writing showing through. The word still carries that meaning, but ancient manuscripts are rare these days, so you’re more likely to hear palimpsest used to describe something that has traces of early stages showing through, like "the palimpsest of an urban neighborhood" — in which hints of earlier styles and designs are still evident among the new highrises.

Example Sentences

Seales was familiar with Bergmann’s work on the Archimedes Palimpsest.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 16, 2015

One thing that stands out about Palimpsest is that it is a book about writing that is written beautifully.

From Slate • Aug. 4, 2015

Comparing the Galen Palimpsest and the British Syriac copy, for instance, could offer telling insights into how the ancient Greeks treated the ill and how these remedies spread across the Middle East.

From New York Times • Jun. 1, 2015

Those that want to get around Palimpsest properly have to find "sequential lovers" who link up to their map.

From The Guardian • Apr. 6, 2010

Palimpsest, the name given to a parchment manuscript written on the top of another that has been erased, yet often not so thoroughly that it cannot be in a measure restored.

From The Nuttall Encyclopædia Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge by Nuttall, P. Austin

Related Words

• article
• document
• text