English Dictionary

palimpsest

/ˈpælɪmpsɛst/

noun

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.

The ancient manuscript is a palimpsest, with layers of text written and erased over the years.

意味（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.

意味（2）

(archaic) Monumental brasses that have been reused by engraving of the blank back side.

意味（3）

(astronomy) Circular features believed to be lunar craters that have been obliterated by later volcanic activity.

意味（4）

(geology) Geological features thought to be related to features or effects below the surface.

意味（5）

(computing) Memory that has been erased and re-written.

意味（6）

(cultural studies) The partial erasure of or superimposition on an older society or culture by a newer one.

意味（7）

Something bearing the traces of an earlier, erased form.

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.