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

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

“The Institute is a palimpsest all its own. Remember that word I taught you?”

From Literature

Related Words

• article
• document
• text