palimpsest /'pal

m(p)s

st/
→
n.
1. a parchment or other surface in which later writing has been superimposed on effaced earlier writing.
2. something bearing visible traces of an earlier form.
- DERIVATIVES
palimpsestic adj.
- ORIGIN C17: via L. from Gk
palimps
stos, from
palin ‘againâ⠂¬â„¢ +
ps
stos ‘rubbed smooth’.
(From
The Concise Oxford English Dictionary)