palimpsest

noun

pa·​limp·​sest ˈpa-ləm(p)-ˌsest  pə-ˈlim(p)- 

1

: writing material (such as a parchment or tablet) used one or more times after earlier writing has been erased

2

: something having usually diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath the surface

Canada … is a palimpsest, an overlay of classes and generations.

—Margaret Atwood

too short a time to get to know the palimpsest of Genevan societies, let alone those of Switzerland

—George Steiner

Did you know?

Long ago, writing surfaces were so highly valued that they were often used more than once. Palimpsest in its original use referred to an early form of recycling in which an old document was erased to make room for a new one when parchment ran short. (The word is from the Greek palimpsēstos, meaning “scraped again.”) Fortunately for modern scholars, the erasing process wasn’t completely effective, so the original could often be distinguished under the newer writing. De republica, by Roman statesman and orator Cicero, is one of many documents recovered from a palimpsest. Nowadays, the word palimpsest can refer not only to such a document but to anything that has multiple layers apparent beneath the surface.

Examples of palimpsest in a Sentence

The ancient city is an architectural palimpsest.

Recent Examples on the Web

Those close to the work said the site is like a palimpsest — a manuscript rewritten over time but still bearing traces of earlier text. —Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 25 Aug. 2025

The museum becomes a palimpsest, with Mutu’s sculptures as annotations in a language of ghosts and futures. —Lee Sharrock, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025

Saville’s palimpsests of charcoal offered a concentrated representation of the maternal journey, with the rewards of nurture and the pain of sacrifice present in the same instant. —Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 9 June 2025

With new analytical techniques, researchers can read these erasures like an ancient palimpsest. —Kermit Pattison, Scientific American, 20 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin palimpsestus, from Greek palimpsēstos scraped again, from palin + psēn to rub, scrape; akin to Sanskrit psāti, babhasti he chews

First Known Use

1825, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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