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.
   • 2022, Ian McEwan, Lessons, page 329:

     But on her he did not see even the palimpsest of a smile.

8. A text with several layers of meaning, especially pertaining to different points in time.
   • 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.

   • 2015 April 28, Martha C. Carpentier, Joycean Legacies, Springer, →ISBN:

     ... with the multilingual portmanteau words and phrases giving the text the quality of a palimpsest upon which multiple layers of textual meaning can be simultaneously detected.

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:palimpsest.

• codex rescriptus

• palimpsestic
• palimpsestuous

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.

• pentimento

• past simple, simple past

Derived from Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος (palímpsēstos).

• IPA^(key): [ˈpalɪmpsɛst]

palimpsest m inan

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).

• IPA^(key): /paˈlim.psɛst/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -impsɛst
• Syllabification: pa‧lim‧psest

palimpsest m inan

1. palimpsest

• palimpsest in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• palimpsest in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Borrowed 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 inan (Cyrillic spelling палѝмпсест)

1. palimpsest

From Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος (palímpsēstos).

• IPA^(key): /palimpséːst/

palimpsẹ̑st m inan

1. palimpsest

Ultimately from Ancient Greek παλίμψηστος (palímpsēstos).

palimpsest c

1. palimpsest

• palimpsest in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈpalɪmpˌsɛsd/, [ˈpʰalɪmpʰˌsɛst]

palimpsest m (plural palimpsestau)

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “palimpsest”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies