Palimpsest

A “palimpsest” (PAL-imp-sest) – from the Greek for “scraped again” – is a manuscript (usually parchment) that has been erased and written on more than once, with the original writing often partly legible. The word is also used for an object, place, or area that reflects its history.

Example (as used by Suzanne today): “The Internet may be a palimpsest of conversation, information, advice, and junk. It may be protean and malleable. But it is also pretty permanent.”