palimpsest Definition
pal·imp·sest (pal′imp sest′)
noun
a parchment, tablet, etc. that has been written upon or inscribed two or three times, the previous text or texts having been imperfectly erased and remaining, therefore, still partly visible
Etymology: L palimpsestus < Gr palimpsēstos, lit., rubbed again < palin, again (see palindrome) + psēn, to rub smooth < IE base *bhes-, to rub off, pulverize > L sabulum, sand
palimpsest Synonyms
palimpsest Usage Examples
Preposition: of
- history: It is a palimpsest of agricultural history created as a by-product of farming.
- activity: A palimpsest of activities have produced this monument -- now as much as in prehistory.
Converse of object
become: As Hatoum struggles to rise, her limbs mark the sides of the container until they become a palimpsest of muddy traces.
Adjective modifier
- visual: And, when you watch the tapes, there are also visual palimpsests.
- rich: The lowland English farming landscape is a rich palimpsest of settlement and exploitation.
Modifies a noun
- review: Palimpsest Reviews Other Reviews Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Tertiary Phase et al.
- group: Somehow that triggered the idea of a Palimpsest film group.
- brass: A smashing palimpsest brass lies about ten feet to the south.
- text: Palimpsest texts on a stilus tablet separated using phase congruency shadow stereo.
- copy: Feel free to splash the cash and buy the official Palimpsest copy, and share it round.
Browse dictionary entries near palimpsest
- ‹ palimony
- ‹ Palikir
- ‹ Pali
- ‹ Palgrave
- ‹ palfrey
- ‹ Paley, William S.
- ‹ Paley
- ‹ palette knife
- ‹ palette
- ‹ paletot
- palindrome ›
- paling ›
- palingenesis ›
- palinode ›
- palisade ›
- palisade parenchyma ›
- palisades ›
- palish ›
- pall ›
- pall-mall ›

