palimpsest

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

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /ˈpælɪmpsɛst/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

palimpsest (plural palimpsests)

1. 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.
2. (archaic) Monumental brasses that have been reused by engraving of the blank back side.
3. (astronomy) Circular features believed to be lunar craters that have been obliterated by later volcanic activity.
4. (geology) Geological features thought to be related to features or effects below the surface.
5. (computing) Memory that has been erased and re-written.
6. (cultural studies) The partial erasure of or superimposition on an older society or culture by a newer one.
7. Something bearing the traces of an earlier, erased form.
   • 2005, Patrick Radden Keefe, Chatter:

     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.

• For quotations of use of this term, see Citations:palimpsest.

• codex rescriptus

• palimpsestic

palimpsest (third-person singular simple present palimpsests, present participle palimpsesting, simple past and past participle palimpsested)

1. To scrape clean, as in parchment, for reuse.
2. On paper: to reuse, often by erasure or change of pen direction or color. Especially fueled by Earth Day.

   Typically refers to a multi-layered work, e.g.: new ads covering old on a roadside sign.

• past simple, simple past, simple-past

From Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος (palímpsēstos)

palimpsest m

1. palimpsest

From Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος (palímpsēstos)

palimpsest c (singular definite palimpsesten, plural indefinite palimpsester)

1. palimpsest

• “palimpsest” in Den Danske Ordbog

From Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος (palímpsēstos)

palimpsest m inan

1. palimpsest

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

• IPA^(key): [pa.limpˈsest]

palimpsest n (plural palimpseste)

1. palimpsest

From Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος (palímpsēstos)

• IPA^(key): /palǐmpsest/
• Hyphenation: pa‧lim‧psest

palìmpsest m (Cyrillic spelling палѝмпсест)

1. palimpsest

From Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος (palímpsēstos)

• IPA^(key): /palimpˈséːst/
• Tonal orthography: palimpsẹ̑st

palimpsést m inan (genitive palimpsésta, nominative plural palimpsésti)

1. palimpsest