Palimpsest (Noun)
Pronounced:
PAL-imp-sest
Definitions:
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
Example Sentence:
As Judy observed the eyes of her new boyfriend fill with tears at the end of Sleepless in Seattle, she teased him about what a palimpsest he had turned out to be.
Did you know?
According to Merriam-Webster, writing surfaces were once so rare that they were often used more than once. Their commentators explain, “‘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.”
Today, the word can be used to describe anything that is “more than what meets the eye.”
Definitions and pronunciation taken from Merrian-Webster Online
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