palimpsest.
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.
Meaning & usage
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.
Monumental brasses that have been reused by engraving of the blank back side.
Circular features believed to be lunar craters that have been obliterated by later volcanic activity.
Geological features thought to be related to features or effects below the surface.
Memory that has been erased and re-written.
The partial erasure of or superimposition on an older society or culture by a newer one.
Something bearing the traces of an earlier, erased form.
A text with several layers of meaning, especially pertaining to different points in time.
Where this word comes from
From Latin palimpsēstus, from Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος (palímpsēstos, “scraped again”).
To scrape clean, as in parchment, for reuse.
On paper: to reuse, often by erasure or change of pen direction or color. Especially fueled by Earth Day.
Where this word comes from
From Latin palimpsēstus, from Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος (palímpsēstos, “scraped again”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.