palimpsest
a parchment or the like from which writing has been partially or completely erased to make room for another text.
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: 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.
Origin of palimpsest
1Other words from palimpsest
- pal·imp·ses·tic [pal-imp-ses-tik] /ˌpæl ɪmpˈsɛs tɪk/ adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use palimpsest in a sentence
Most old towns are like palimpsests, parchments which have been scrawled over again and again by their successive owners.
Oxford | Andrew LangWhen the latter method was used, the writing as in palimpsests can be made to reappear by warming.
Disputed Handwriting | Jerome B. LavayThe oldest evidence now existing for any works of Cicero is to be found in palimpsests written in the 4th or 5th century.
This was done for economy's sake, when writing material was costly, and parchments thus treated are known as palimpsests.
The Story of Books | Gertrude Burford RawlingsOn the veil of the eternal mystery are palimpsests of which every race has deciphered a consonant.
The Book of Khalid | Ameen Rihani
British Dictionary definitions for palimpsest
/ (ˈpælɪmpˌsɛst) /
a manuscript on which two or more successive texts have been written, each one being erased to make room for the next
(of a text) written on a palimpsest
(of a document) used as a palimpsest
Origin of palimpsest
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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