tympan

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin tympanum.

Noun

tympan (plural tympans)

1. (printing) A piece of cloth padding placed under the platen of a letterpress to distribute the pressure on the sheet being printed.
2. (music) The stretched membrane of a drum.
3. (music) A percussion instrument consisting of a hollow cylinder with such a membrane at each end.
4. (architecture) A tympanum.
5. The tympanum of the ear.
   • 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt

     But soon I grew used to these sounds, and then I understood as well as ever, that is to say fully one half of what won its way past my tympan.

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin tympanum. Doublet of timbre, which was inherited.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛ̃.pɑ̃/

Noun

tympan m (plural tympans)

1. (anatomy) eardrum
2. (anatomy) middle ear
3. (architecture) tympanum
4. (historical) treadwheel, treadmill
5. (by extension) hydraulic wheel
6. (dated or literary, music) various percussion instruments, such as gongs, tympans, tambourines, etc.
7. (printing) tympan

Derived terms

• tympanique

Further reading

• “tympan”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.