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

• 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”)

Example Sentences

Mr. Chiasson sets about peeling back the layers on the palimpsest of Mr. Sanders’s life.

From The Wall Street Journal

The end result can evoke a palimpsest feel.

From 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.

From Los Angeles Times

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

From New York Times

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

From Science Magazine

Related Words

• article
• document
• text