ETYM Latin palimpsestus, Greek, scratched or scraped again, a palimpsest; palin again + psen to rub, rub away: cf. French palimpseste.
A manuscript (usually written on papyrus or parchment) on which more than one text has been written with the earlier writing incompletely erased and still visible.
Parchment, etc., of which first writing has been erased to enable it to be used again.