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.