tympan Hear it!

tympan definition

tym·pan (timpən)

noun

  1. Obsolete a drum
  2. the paper, cardboard, etc. stretched over the platen or impression cylinder of a printing press to cushion the paper being printed and equalize type pressure
  3. any membranelike part
  4. Archit. tympanum

Etymology: ME < OE timpana & OFr tympan < L tympanum < Gr tympanon, a drum, area of a pediment, panel of a door < typtein, to strike, beat < IE *(s)teup-, to strike > steep

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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