Hypertext Webster Gateway: "tympanum"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Tympanum \Tym"pa*num\, n.; 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. ?, ?,
fr. ? 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. (Zo["o]l.) 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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
tympanum
n 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}]
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