palimpsest

  1. 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. Many historical texts have been recovered using ultraviolet light and other technologies to read the erased writing.
  2. Noun.  (archaic) Monumental brasses that have been reused by engraving of the blank back side.
  3. Noun.  (astronomy) Circular features believed to be lunar craters that have been obliterated by later volcanic activity.
  4. Noun.  (geology) Geological features thought to be related to features or effects below the surface.
  5. Noun.  (computing) Memory that has been erased and re-written.
  6. Noun.  Something bearing the traces of an earlier, erased form.
  7. Verb.  To scrape clean, as in parchment, for reuse.
  8. Verb.  On paper: to reuse, often by erasure or change of pen direction or color. Especially fueled by Earth Day.

This is an unmodified, but possibly outdated, definition from Wiktionary and used here under the Creative Commons license. Wiktionary is a great resource. If you like it too, please donate to Wikimedia.

This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.