palimpsest

palimpsest

 
noun|PAL-imp-sest
 
What It Means
 
Palimpsest in its original use refers to writing material (such as a parchment manuscript) used one or more times after earlier writing has been erased; the underlying text is said to be “in palimpsest.” Palimpsest in extended use refers to something that has usually diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath the surface.
 
// Scholars believe the motive for making palimpsests was often economic—reusing parchment was cheaper than preparing a new skin.
 
// The ancient city is an architectural palimpsest.

palimpsest
noun
pa·;limp·;sest ;pa-l;m(p)-;sest  p;-;lim(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 rare that they were often used more than once. Palimpsest originally described 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 palimps;stos, 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 thus recovered from a palimpsest. Nowadays, the word palimpsest can refer not only to such a document but to anything that has multiple layers.

Examples of palimpsest in a Sentence
The ancient city is an architectural palimpsest.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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
Yet looking over her memories, Huston sees the character of Lady Tressilian really as a palimpsest from a lifetime of nostalgic fantasy.
—Erik Morse, Vogue, 15 Apr. 2025

Word History
Etymology
Latin palimpsestus, from Greek palimps;stos scraped again, from palin + ps;n to rub, scrape; akin to Sanskrit ps;ti, babhasti he chews

First Known Use
1825, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of palimpsest was in 1825
See more words from the same year
Browse Nearby Words
palimony
palimpsest
palimpsestic