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Origin and history of palimpsest

palimpsest(n.)

"parchment from which earlier writing has been removed to clear it for new writing," 1660s, from Latin palimpsestus, from Greek palimpsestos "scraped again," from palin "again, back" (from PIE *kwle-i-, suffixed form of root *kwel- (1) "revolve, move round'" PIE *kw- becomes Greek p- before some vowels) + verbal adjective of psēn "to rub smooth," which is of uncertain origin. Related: Palimpsestic.

also from 1660s

Entries linking to palimpsest

*kwel-(1)

also *kwelə-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "revolve, move round; sojourn, dwell."

It might form all or part of: accolade; ancillary; atelo-; bazaar; bicycle; bucolic; chakra; chukker; collar; collet; colonial; colony; cult; cultivate; culture; cyclamen; cycle; cyclo-; cyclone; Cyclops; decollete; encyclical; encyclopedia; entelechy; epicycle; hauberk; hawse; inquiline; kultur; lapidocolous; nidicolous; palimpsest; palindrome; palinode; pole (n.2) "ends of Earth's axis;" pulley; rickshaw; talisman; teleology; telic; telophase; telos; torticollis; wheel.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit cakram "circle, wheel," carati "he moves, wanders;" Avestan caraiti "applies himself," c'axra "chariot, wagon;" Greek kyklos "circle, wheel, any circular body, circular motion, cycle of events,"polos "a round axis" (PIE *kw- becomes Greek p- before some vowels), polein "move around;" Latin colere "to frequent, dwell in, to cultivate, move around," cultus "tended, cultivated," hence also "polished," colonus "husbandman, tenant farmer, settler, colonist;" Lithuanian kelias "a road, a way;" Old Norse hvel, Old English hweol "wheel;" Old Church Slavonic kolo, Old Russian kolo, Polish koło, Russian koleso "a wheel."

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    manuscript
    "book, paper, or other document written by hand with ink, pencil, etc.," as distinguished from anything printed, especially one written before the use of printing, c. 1600, earlier as an adjective, "written with the hand, handwritten, not printed" (1590s), from Medieval Latin man
    holograph
    "document written entirely by the person from whom it proceeds," 1620s, from Late Latin holographus, from Greek holographos "written entirely by the same hand," literally "written in full," from holos "whole" (from PIE root *sol- "whole, well-kept") + graphos "written," from grap
    reflection
    late 14c., refleccioun, reflexioun, reflectioun, of surfaces or bodies, "the action of throwing back light or heat," from Old French reflexion, refleccion, and directly from Late Latin reflexionem (nominative reflexio) "a reflection," literally "a bending back," noun of action fr
    penance
    c. 1300, penaunce, "religious discipline or self-mortification as a token of repentance and as atonement for some sin; sorrow for sin shown by outward acts under authority and regulation of the Church," from Anglo-French penaunce, Old French peneance (12c.), from Latin pænitentia
    offspring
    Old English ofspring "children or young collectively, descendants," literally "those who spring off (someone)," from of "away, away from" (see off (prep.)) + springan "to spring" (see spring (v.)). Similar formation in Old Norse afspringr. The figurative sense "that which is prod
    conception
    early 14c., "act of conceiving in the womb," from Old French concepcion (Modern French conception) "conception, grasp, comprehension," from Latin conceptionem (nominative conceptio) "a comprehending, conception," noun of action from past-participle stem of concipere "to take in a
    chocolate
    c. 1600, from Mexican Spanish chocolate, from Nahuatl (Aztecan) chocola-tl, "chocolate," and/or cacahua-tl "chocolate, chocolate bean." With a-tl "water." In the first form, the first element might be related to xocalia "to make something bitter or sour" [Karttunen]. Made with co
    basket case
    1919, American English, originally a reference to rumors of quadriplegics as a result of catastrophic wounds suffered in World War I (the U.S. military authorities vehemently denied there were any such in its hospitals), from basket (n.) + case (n.2). Probably literal, i.e., stuc
    pillar
    c. 1200, piler, "a column or columnar mass, narrow in proportion to height, either weight-bearing or free-standing," from Old French piler "pillar, column, pier" (12c., Modern French pilier) and directly from Medieval Latin pilare, from Latin pila "pillar, stone barrier," a word
    specious
    late 14c., "pleasing to the sight, fair," from Latin speciosus "good-looking, beautiful, fair," also "showy, pretended, plausible, specious" (source also of Old French specieux, specieuse), from species "appearance, form, figure, beauty" (see species). Meaning "seemingly desirabl

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