palimpsest

das Palimpsest oder der

antikes oder mittelalterliches Schriftst;ck, von dem der urspr;ngliche Text abgeschabt oder abgewaschen und das danach neu beschriftet wurde



palimpsest
American 

[pal-imp-sest]
/ ;p;l ;mp;s;st /
noun
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: Today's towering Romanesque-Gothic structure is a palimpsest, the result of numerous additions and reconstructions.

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.

Palimpsest: Word of the Day
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palimpsest
British 
/ ;p;l;mp;s;st /
noun
a manuscript on which two or more successive texts have been written, each one being erased to make room for the next

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective
(of a text) written on a palimpsest

(of a document) used as a palimpsest

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Word Forms
palimpsestic adjective
Etymology
Origin of palimpsest
First recorded in 1655–65; from Latin palimps;stus, from Greek pal;mps;stos “rubbed again” ( p;lin “again” + ps;st;s “scraped, rubbed,” past participle of ps;n “to rub smooth”)

Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Mr. Chiasson sets about peeling back the layers on the palimpsest of Mr. Sanders’s life.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026

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Each new power painted over its predecessors’ propaganda posters and insignia, leaving the province’s buildings a palimpsest of the war’s winners and losers.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2025

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After so many years, St. Mark’s Church is a palimpsest of memories for Mullins.

From New York Times • May 6, 2024

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Subsequent impact events can heat up parts of a rock, glazing it with fields from later times and creating a magnetic palimpsest.

From Science Magazine • Dec. 19, 2022

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And then, deeper in the palimpsest, underneath the announcement signal and the primer, would be the real message.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan


Related Words
article
document
text
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.



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Word of the Day
palimpsest