Word of the Day

: April 29, 2010

palimpsest

noun PAL-imp-sest

What It Means

1 : writing material (as a parchment or tablet) used one or more times after earlier writing has been erased

2 : something having usually diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath the surface

palimpsest in Context

"Canada, like any country, is a palimpsest, an overlay of classes and generations." (Margaret Atwood, New York Times Book Review, March 10, 1985)

Did You Know?

In olden days, writing surfaces were so rare that they were often used more than once. "Palimpsest" originally described an early form of recycling in which an old document was erased to make room for a new one when parchment ran short. Fortunately for modern scholars, the erasing process wasn't completely effective, so the original could often be distinguished under the newer writing. De republica, by Roman statesman and orator Cicero, is one of many documents thus recovered from a palimpsest. Nowadays, the word "palimpsest" can refer not only to such a document but to anything that has multiple layers.