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palimpsest

 - 3 dictionary results

pal⋅imp⋅sest

  [pal-imp-sest]
Use palimpsest in a Sentence
–noun
a parchment or the like from which writing has been partially or completely erased to make room for another text.
Origin:
1655–65; < L palimpsēstus < Gk palímpsēstos rubbed again (pálin again + psēstós scraped, rubbed, verbid of psân to rub smooth)

Related forms:
pal⋅imp⋅ses⋅tic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To palimpsest
pal·imp·sest   (pāl'ĭmp-sěst')   
n.  

  1. A manuscript, typically of papyrus or parchment, that has been written on more than once, with the earlier writing incompletely erased and often legible.

  2. An object, place, or area that reflects its history: "Spaniards in the sixteenth century . . . saw an ocean moving south . . . through a palimpsest of bayous and distributary streams in forested paludal basins" (John McPhee).


[Latin palimpsēstum, from Greek palimpsēston, neuter of palimpsēstos, scraped again : palin, again; see kwel-1 in Indo-European roots + psēn, to scrape.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

palimpsest 
"parchment from which earlier writing has been removed to clear it for new writing," 1661, from L. palimpsestus, from Gk. palimpsestos "scraped again," from palin "again" (see palindrome) + verbal adj. of psen "to rub smooth" (of unknown origin).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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