palimpsest

Definition

A manuscript or document that has been erased or scraped clean, for reuse of the paper, parchment, vellum, or other medium on which it was written.

Etymology

From Latin palimpsēstus, from Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος (palímpsēstos, “scraped again”).

Example Sentences

• "But on her he did not see even the palimpsest of a smile."
• "Miraculously, the Stasi's record of Garton Ash's years in Berlin remained intact, and in his extraordinary book The File he recalls going back to Berlin, sifting through the material, and piecing together those years for himself. The result is a palimpsest of memories, observations recorded by informants and agents, and the recollections in his own diaries at that time."
• "... with the multilingual portmanteau words and phrases giving the text the quality of a palimpsest upon which multiple layers of textual meaning can be simultaneously detected."