[identity profile] miss-daizy.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] 1word1day
palimpsest [pal-imp-sest]

noun

a manuscript on which two or more successive texts have been written, each one being erased to make room for the next

Etymology

1661, from L. palimpsestus = parchment cleaned for re-use; from Gk. palimpsestos = scraped again' from palin= again (see palindrome) + verbal adj. of psen "to rub smooth" (of unknown origin).

Usage:

"Language is an archeological vehicle ... the language we speak is a whole palimpsest of human effort and history."

-Russell Hoban
Page generated Jun. 3rd, 2025 07:55 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios