palimpsest

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An obliterated manuscript written over again is called a palimpsest, and the man who can restore and read it a paleographist.

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American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A manuscript, typically of papyrus or parchment, that has been written on more than once, with the earlier writing incompletely erased and often legible.
  2. noun An object, place, or area that reflects its history: "Spaniards in the sixteenth century . . . saw an ocean moving south . . . through a palimpsest of bayous and distributary streams in forested paludal basins” (John McPhee).

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Palimpsest has been looked up 905 times, favorited 25 times, listed 218 times, commented on 10 times, and has a Scrabble score of 16.

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American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Latin palimpsēstum, from Greek palimpsēston, neuter of palimpsēstos, scraped again : palin, again; see kwel-1 in Indo-European roots + psēn, to scrape.

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Pronunciations

/ (pălˈĭmp-sĕstˌ)/
by American Heritage Dictionary

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