tympanum

American  

[tim-puh-nuhm] / ˈtɪm pə nəm /

noun

tympanums, plural tympana plural

1. Anatomy, Zoology.

   1. middle ear.

   2. tympanic membrane.

2. Architecture.

   1. the recessed, usually triangular space enclosed between the horizontal and sloping cornices of a pediment, often decorated with sculpture.

   2. a similar space between an arch and the horizontal head of a door or window below.

3. Electricity. the diaphragm of a telephone.

4. a drum or similar instrument.

5. the stretched membrane forming a drumhead.

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tympanum British  

/ ˈtɪmpənəm /

noun

1. 1. the cavity of the middle ear

   2. another name for tympanic membrane

2. any diaphragm resembling that in the middle ear in function

3. Also called: tympan.  architect

   1. the recessed space bounded by the cornices of a pediment, esp one that is triangular in shape and ornamented

   2. the recessed space bounded by an arch and the lintel of a doorway or window below it

4. music a tympan or drum

5. a scoop wheel for raising water

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tympana
  plural
• tympanums
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tympanum

1610–20; < Latin < Greek týmpanon drum, akin to týptein to beat, strike

Explanation

A tympanum is the ear cavity or eardrum of certain animals. You can also refer to your eardrum as a tympanum — or to be really fancy you can call it a tympanic membrane. It's more common to use tympanum to talk about an insect's or amphibian's ear rather than to use the word to refer to a human eardrum. In ancient Greece and Rome, a tympanum was a small, hand-held drum, similar to a tambourine. The Greek version of the word was tympanon, from the root typtein, "to beat or strike."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tympanum tympana tympanums

The middle ear holds three small bones called the ossicles, which transfer energy from the moving tympanum to the inner ear.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

A fast-rising artist who had been commissioned at a young age to design the tympanum over the central doors of the National Cathedral, Hart was working in a long, historical tradition of realistic representation.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 1, 2017

“Mahna Mahna” is as catchy as a song can be, like a fishing hook stuck in your tympanum.

From Slate ● Nov. 23, 2011

In some of these species this anatomy creates a direct mechanical link between the gas bladder and inner ear, analogous to the human tympanum, or eardrum.

From New York Times ● Jun. 13, 2011

He learns the endless terms, the vocabulary that classifies the details of ancient buildings, writing them on separate index cards and making illustrations on the back: architrave, entablature, tympanum, voussoir.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

The tympana, friezes, and surfaces of all these monuments are covered with reliefs, which represent with much truth and liveliness the life of animals as well as the life of men.

From The History of Antiquity, Vol. I (of VI) by Duncker, Max

The tympana of these arches above were pierced to north, south, and west by three windows now built up but whose outlines are still visible beneath the whitewash which has been daubed over them.

From Byzantine Churches in Constantinople Their History and Architecture by Van Millingen, Alexander

I am from hence induc't to be of opinion that these tympana were made according to such and such proportions, suitable to such and such notes.

From The Natural History of Wiltshire by Aubrey, John

The lateral entrances are sheltered by tympana and arches profusely decorated with statuettes.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 1 "Austria, Lower" to "Bacon" by Various

In the first are two good Norman tympana, one over the north doorway, representing a dragon, and one, now placed over the interior of the south doorway, carved with the Agnus Dei.

From Nooks and Corners of Cornwall by Scott, C. A. Dawson

Old Boer Senators leaned forward, hand behind ear in order that not one word of the Prince's English should escape their Dutch-hardened tympanums.

From Time Magazine Archive

Last week he had the thrill of seeing his bellowing affect not just the ear of some baffled layman but the tympanums of that knowing politician, the Head of the Democratic Party.

From Time Magazine Archive

The masons put together the pieces of the rose window and installed the tympanums and voussoirs over the doors.

From "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" by David Macaulay

The vault rang with it like the beating of tympanums.

From Salammbo by Flaubert, Gustave

The waves of sound strike all tympanums alike; yet in these instances they are incapable of responding to certain waves.

From Studies in the Out-Lying Fields of Psychic Science by Tuttle, Hudson