words

palimpsest
n., adj.- A parchment or other writing surface on which the original text has been effaced or partially erased, and then overwritten by another; a manuscript in which later writing has been superimposed on earlier (effaced) writing.--Physical Geogr. and Geol. A structure characterized by superimposed features produced at two or more distinct periods.

Etymology: < classical Latin palimpsēstus paper or parchment which has been written on again < Hellenistic Greek παλίμψηστος scraped again, also παλίμψηστον a parchment from which writing has been erased < ancient Greek πάλιν again + -ψηστός < ψῆν to rub smooth ( < the same Indo-European base as Sanskrit bhas- , psā- to crush, chew, devour) + epenthetic -σ- + -τός , suffix forming verbal adjectives.