Editing Palimpsest (section)

== Etymology ==
[[File:Georgian paliphsest V-VI cc.jpg|thumb|350px|A [[Georgian language|Georgian]] palimpsest from the 5th or 6th century]]
The word ''palimpsest'' derives {{ety|la|[[wikt:en:palimpsestus#Latin|palimpsestus]]}}, which derives from {{langx|grc|[[wikt:en:παλίμψηστος#Ancient Greek|παλίμψηστος]]|palímpsēstos|label=none}}<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ObJ2vwEACAAJ |editor-first1=M. |editor-last1=Goh |editor-first2=C. |editor-last2=Schroeder |title=The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek |publisher=Brill (Leiden) |year=2018 |isbn=978-90-04-19318-5 |page=1527 (col. 3)}}</ref> ({{ety|grc|''[[wikt:en:πάλιν|πάλιν]]'' (pálin)|again||''[[wikt:en:ψάω|ψάω]]'' (psáō)|scrape}}), a [[compound word]] that describes the process: "The original writing was scraped and washed off, the surface resmoothed, and the new literary material written on the salvaged material."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6De-QgAACAAJ |editor-first1=B. M. |editor-last1=Metzger |editor-first2=B. D. |editor-last2=Ehrman |title=The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-019-516122-9 |page=20}}</ref> The Ancient Greeks used [[Wax tablet|wax-coated tablets]] to write on with a [[stylus]], and to erase the writing by smoothing the wax surface and writing again. This practice was adopted by [[Ancient Rome|Ancient Romans]], who wrote on wax-coated tablets, which were reusable; [[Cicero]]'s use of the term ''palimpsest'' confirms such a practice.