palimpsest Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a manuscript (usually written on papyrus or parchment) on which more than one text has been written with the earlier writing incompletely erased and still visible

WordNet

Pal"imp*sest noun
Etymology
L. palimpsestus, Gr. scratched or scraped again, a palimpsest; again + to rub, rub away: cf. F. palimpseste.
Definitions
  1. A parchment which has been written upon twice, the first writing having been erased to make place for the second. Longfellow.

Webster 1913