a manuscript on which two or more successive texts have been written, each one being erased to make room for the next
adjective
2.
(of a text) written on a palimpsest
3.
(of a document) used as a palimpsest
Word origin
C17: from Latin palimpsestus parchment cleaned for reuse, from Greek palimpsēstos, from palin again + psēstos rubbed smooth, from psēn to scrape
palimpsest in American English
(ˈpælɪmpˌsɛst)
noun
a parchment, tablet, etc. that has been written upon or inscribed two or three times, the previous text or texts having been imperfectly erased and remaining, therefore, still partly visible
Word origin
L palimpsestus < Gr palimpsēstos, lit., rubbed again < palin, again (see palindrome) + psēn, to rub smooth < IE base *bhes-, to rub off, pulverize > L sabulum, sand
Examples of 'palimpsest' in a sentence
palimpsest
Like many of its citizens, Avila itself was a kind of palimpsest, a city of overlays.