Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Tympan
1.
A drum.
[Obs.]
2.
(Arch.)
A panel; a tympanum.
3.
(Print.)
A frame covered with parchment or cloth, on which the blank sheets are put, in order to be laid on the form to be impressed.
Tympan sheet
(Print.)
, a sheet of paper of the same size as that to be printed, pasted on the tympan, and serving as a guide in laying the sheets evenly for printing.
W. Savage.
Webster 1828 Edition
Tympan
TYM'PAN
,Noun.
1.
A drum; hence, the barrel or hollow part of the ear behind the membrane of the tympanum.2.
The area of a pediment; also, the part of a pedestal called the trunk or dye.3.
The pannel of a door.4.
A triangular space or table in the corners or sides of an arch, usually enriched with figures.5.
Among printers, a frame covered with parchment or cloth, on which the blank sheets are put in order to be laid on the form to be impressed.Definition 2024
tympan
tympan
English
Noun
tympan (plural tympans)
- (printing) A piece of cloth padding placed under the platen of a letterpress to distribute the pressure on the sheet being printed.
- (music) The stretched membrane of a drum.
- (music) A percussion instrument consisting of a hollow cylinder with such a membrane at each end.
- (architecture) A tympanum.
French
Etymology
From Medieval Latin tympanum.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /tɛ̃.pɑ̃/
Noun
tympan m (plural tympans)
- (anatomy) eardrum
- (anatomy) middle ear
- (architecture) tympanum
- (historical) treadwheel, treadmill
- (by extension) hydraulic wheel
- (dated or literary, music) various percussion instruments, such as gongs, tympans, tambourines, etc.
- (printing) tympan