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Webster 1913 Edition

Tympanum

Tym′pa-num

,
Noun.
;
pl. E.
Tympanums
(#)
, L.
Tympana
(#)
.
[L., a kettledrum, a drum or wheel in machines, the triangular area in a pediment, the panel of a door, Gr.
τύμπανον
,
τύπανον
, fr. [GREEK] to strike, beat. See
Type
, and cf.
Timbrel
.]
1.
(Anat.)
(a)
The ear drum, or middle ear. Sometimes applied incorrectly to the tympanic membrane. See
Ear
.
(b)
A chamber in the anterior part of the syrinx of birds.
2.
(Zool.)
One of the naked, inflatable air sacs on the neck of the prairie chicken and other species of grouse.
3.
(Arch.)
(a)
The recessed face of a pediment within the frame made by the upper and lower cornices, being usually a triangular space or table.
(b)
The space within an arch, and above a lintel or a subordinate arch, spanning the opening below the arch.
4.
(Mech.)
A drum-shaped wheel with spirally curved partitions by which water is raised to the axis when the wheel revolves with the lower part of the circumference submerged, – used for raising water, as for irrigation.

Webster 1828 Edition

Tympanum

TYM'PANUM

,
Noun.
The drum of the ear. [See Tympan.]
1.
In mechanics, a wheel placed round an axis.

Definition 2024

tympanum

tympanum

English

Noun

tympanum ‎(plural tympanums or tympana)

  1. (architecture) A triangular space between the sides of a pediment.
  2. (architecture) The space within an arch, and above a lintel or a subordinate arch, spanning the opening below the arch.
  3. The middle ear.
  4. The eardrum.
  5. A hearing organ in frogs, toads and some insects.
  6. (engineering) A drum-shaped wheel with spirally curved partitions by which water is raised to the axis when the wheel revolves with the lower part of the circumference submerged; used for raising water, as for irrigation.

Quotations

  • 2005, Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty, Bloomsbury Publishing, paperback, page 9
    It was a black-and-white picture of a Romanesque doorway, with flanking saints and a lively Last Judgement in the tympanum [...].

Translations

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek τύμπανον ‎(túmpanon), from τύπτω ‎(túptō, “I strike, beat”).

Pronunciation

  • (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈtym.pa.num/, [ˈtʏm.pa.nũ]

Noun

tympanum n ‎(genitive tympanī); second declension

  1. drum, timbrel, tambour, tambourine

Inflection

Second declension.

Case Singular Plural
nominative tympanum tympana
genitive tympanī tympanōrum
dative tympanō tympanīs
accusative tympanum tympana
ablative tympanō tympanīs
vocative tympanum tympana

References

Etymology

From Latin tympanum, from Ancient Greek τύμπανον ‎(túmpanon), from τύπτω ‎(túptō, “I strike, I hit”).

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