© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
Op-Ed: Restore money diverted from NJ Affordable Housing Trust Fund
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
NJ Spotlight News: July 23, 2025
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
Ciattarelli announces Morris County sheriff as running mate
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
Feds seem set to take over Atlantic City Housing Authority properties
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
NJ Supreme Court upholds state takeover of Paterson PD
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
NJ can’t block private immigrant detention centers, judges rule
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
Partial court win leaves Planned Parenthood scrambling in NJ
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
Americans fret over Social Security’s long-term strength
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
Op-Ed: We need more transparency as NJ energy prices rise
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
NJ Spotlight News: July 22, 2025
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
Environmentalists, lawmakers promote NJ ‘Climate Superfund’
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
NJ’s new maternal health center vows a ‘safer birth for every mother’
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
Federal cutbacks hit NJ beach renewal projects
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
Judges reject Alina Habba for US Attorney of New Jersey
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
Op-Ed: What efficient and effective government can accomplish
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
Trump gives two NJ plants more time to meet pollution rules
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
Housing program for homeless people loses all state funding
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
NJ Spotlight News: July 21, 2025
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
Cannabis consumption areas could be coming to 4 NJ dispensaries
© Copyright NJ Spotlight
new_jersey
Alina Habba’s temporary tenure stirred the political pot
auto
book
fashion
finance
football
lifestyle
mental
nutrition
opinion
people
retirement
shopping
soccer
travel
upstate

Word of the Day

palimpsest

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 2, 2025 is:

palimpsest • \PAL-imp-sest\  • noun

Palimpsest in its original use refers to writing material (such as a parchment manuscript) used one or more times after earlier writing has been erased; the underlying text is said to be “in palimpsest.” Palimpsest in extended use refers to something that has usually diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath the surface.

// Scholars believe the motive for making palimpsests was often economic—reusing parchment was cheaper than preparing a new skin.

// The ancient city is an architectural palimpsest.

See the entry >

Examples:

“My aim was to trace the course of … the Aqua Marcia, built between 144 and 140 B.C. by Julius Caesar’s ancestor Quintus Marcius Rex. … The original tuff arches carried the Marcia across a steep ravine. Subsequent retaining walls and buttresses have transformed the bridge into a palimpsest of building styles.” — David Laskin, The New York Times, 24 Apr. 2024

Did you know?

Long ago, writing surfaces were so highly valued that they were often used more than once. Palimpsest in its original use referred to an early form of recycling in which an old document was erased to make room for a new one when parchment ran short. (The word is from the Greek palimpsēstos, meaning “scraped again.”) Fortunately for modern scholars, the erasing process wasn’t completely effective, so the original could often be distinguished under the newer writing. De republica, by Roman statesman and orator Cicero, is one of many documents recovered from a palimpsest. Nowadays, the word palimpsest can refer not only to such a document but to anything that has multiple layers apparent beneath the surface.



Pay-to-play practices booming in NJ?
Activists, police differ as police not indicted for killing
FAA announces changes to number of flights coming in and out of Newark airport each day #shorts
Advocates field calls from people who are ‘terrified’
New I-80 sinkhole worsens traffic jams, fuels frustrations
Newark Airport again faces air traffic control issue
Rep. Tom Kean faces scrutiny over his stock portfolio
Local NJ leaders push to ban helicopter tour flights
Offshore wind developer seeks to delay $37M in payments