palimpsest

[emperor]

This is both a noun and an adjective, and I came across it in a discussion of extracting over-written data from hard-disks. It's a very pretty word, in my opinion!

[< classical Latin palimpsestus paper or parchment which has been written on again < Hellenistic Greek παλιμψηστοσ scraped again, also παλιμψηστον a parchment from which writing has

Comments

[thiswaste]

Ah I've always adored this word.

[malkhos]

It seems like half the words posted here are just ordinary words from Classical scholarship. What is unusual about those?

Incidently, if you are going to use that Byzantine sigma, you must use the corresponding final form, though i am just old enough to prefer the lunate form for both, which is out of fashion again, except among payrologists.

[petrusplancius]

Ah, but the world of classical scholarship, and the language that is used in it, is distinctly unusual to most people.
Here's someone who seriously disagrees with you about the lunate sigma:
http://wmblathers.blogspot.com/2006/12/lunacy-of-lunate-sigma-rant.html

[emperor]

You are, of course, welcome to post unusual words of your own...

[momentsmusicaux]

I think it's a nice word too.
And I'd never come across it being used in the context of overwriting data. Interesting!
Nor did I know you could use it as an adjective.