Tuesday, March 17, 2009

What is a palimpsest?


Search
: palimpsest

Why: It's on page 3 of The Handmaid's Tale, which I first read maybe 10 years ago.
"...the music lingered, a palimpsest of unheard sound, style upon style, an undercurrent of drums, a forlorn wail..."
I didn't look it up the first time.

Answer: from Greek palimpsēston, scraped again : palin, again + psēn, to scrape
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
<Canada…is a palimpsest, an overlay of classes and generations — Margaret Atwood>
Source: Merriam-Webster

The More You Know: Margaret Atwood wrote The Handmaid's Tale. Palimpsest must be her favorite word.

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