tympanum

1 the main cavity of the ear; between the eardrum and the inner ear [syn: middle ear, tympanic cavity]

2 the membrane in the ear that vibrates to sound [syn: eardrum, tympanic membrane, myringa]

3 a large hemispherical brass or copper percussion instrument with a drumhead that can be tuned by adjusting the tension on it [syn: kettle, kettledrum, tympani, timpani] [also: tympana (pl)]

English

Noun

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

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 [...].

Tympanum or timpanum or thympanon (Latin form) or tympanon (Greek form) may mean:

• In biology, tympanum – Eardrum
• In classical architecture, tympanum is an architectural element located within the arch or Pediment
• In music, timpano – singular of timpani, a kettledrum
• In amphibian biology, tympanum - a hearing organ/gland in frogs and toads, a flat red oval on both sides of a frog's head
• In insect biology, tympanum or tympanal organ - a hearing organ in insects

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