pal·imp·sest / ˈpalimpˌsest/ • n. a manuscript or piece of writing material on which the original writing has been effaced to make room for later writing but of which traces remain. ∎ fig. something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form: Sutton Place is a palimpsest of the taste of successive owners.DERIVATIVES: pal·imp·ses·tic / ˌpalimpˈsestik/ adj.

palimpsest A landscape that bears the imprint of two or more sets of geomorphological processes. For example, much of the Sahel region of Africa shows land-forms resulting from former wet and dry episodes. The word is derived from the Greek palimpsestos, ‘to rub smooth again’, and is also used for a re-used parchment, paper, or ornamental brass whose original writing or engraving has been only partially erased and for a sedimentary structure in which one set of trace fossils has been partly over-written by another. See RELAXATION.

PALIMPSEST

A technical term of paleography, used to designate a MS of leather or parchment that was used more than once. Since such materials were scarce and expensive, the writing was often erased from an old codex by washing and/or scraping, so that the surface could be used again. The term refers only to leather or parchment MSS, since papyrus and paper would not permit such rough treatment. If the MS was erased twice, it was called a double palimpsest. The original writing was seldom completely destroyed and can frequently be read, at least in part. As a result, some palimpsests have great value for the scholar. Chemical agents such as ammonium hydrosulfide once proved useful in making the text readable, but today ultraviolet lamps and especially infrared photography aid in deciphering a text. The most famous palimpsests of the Bible are the Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (C), Codex Nitriensis (R), and Codex Syrus-Sinaiticus.

[t. h. weber]

palimpsest
1. A word derived from the Greek palimpsestos, meaning ‘to rub smooth again’, and used to describe a re-used parchment, paper, or ornamental brass from which the original writing or engraving has been only partially erased.

2. A landscape that bears the imprint of two or more sets of earlier geomorphological processes. For example, much of the Sahel region of Africa shows land-forms resulting from former wet and dry episodes.

palimpsest a manuscript or piece of writing material on which later writing has been superimposed on effaced earlier writing; in figurative use, something reused or altered but still bearing visible traces of its earlier form. Recorded from the mid 17th century, the word comes via Latin from Greek palimpsēstos, from palin ‘again’ and psēstos ‘rubbed smooth’.