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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Definitions (6)

Toggle American Heritage definitions 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 806 times, favorited 25 times, listed 216 times, and commented on 10 times.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies 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.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French palimpseste = Spanish Portuguese palimpsesto = Italian palinsesto, from Latin palimpsestus, masculine, from Greek παλίμψηστον, a palimpsest, neuter of παλίμψηστος, scratched or scraped again, from πάλιν, back (to the former condition), + ψνστός, verbal adjective of ψάειν, ψῆν, rub, rub smooth.
 

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/ˈpælɪmpsɛst/
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