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 apalimpsest, an overlay of classes and generations — Margaret Atwood>
The More You Know: Margaret Atwood wrote The Handmaid's Tale. Palimpsest must be her favorite word.
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