palimpsest /'paelimpsest; 'paehmpzSESt n [C] piece of parchment or other writing material from which the original writing has been erased to make room for new writing, esp as a source for lost works of the remote past. 刮去舊字以供書(shū)寫(xiě)新字的羊皮紙或其他書(shū)寫(xiě)材料 (尤指作為古代佚失作品之來(lái)源者) 。