tympanum

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Contents

[edit] English

[edit] Noun

Singular
tympanum

Plural
tympanums or tympani

tympanum (plural tympanums or tympani)

  1. (architecture) A triangular space between the sides of a pediment.
  2. The middle ear.
  3. The eardrum.
  4. A hearing organ in frogs, toads and some insects.

[edit] 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 [...].

[edit] Translations

triangular space between the sides of a pediment
middle ear — see middle ear
eardrum — see eardrum
hearing organ
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